News
Man using electric motor to fish gets electrocuted
View(s):A 28-year-old motor mechanic died on Tuesday while fishing with an electric motor in a canal in the Kaduwela area.A watcher at the land besides the canal told an inquest that the victim, identified as Kankanam Padirige Ravindra Lanka Kumara, a father of two and a resident of No.642/4, Kendaliyaddha, Koratota, Kaduwela used to come to the canal twice a week to fish.
“He came and spoke to me around 4.30 in the morning as in previous occasions to get permission to climb up the electric pole and get current from it for his motor that he fished with. He dips the motor into the water and switches it on which makes the fish float on the water surface and die of the heat.
“That day as the motor suddenly stopped working he came out of the water and placed his leg on it. As he did this he was thrown about 12 feet high into the air due to the electric shock and fell into the water where he drowned. He died before he was admitted to hospital,” he said. Colombo National Hospital JMO who conducted the post moterm said death was due to electrocution. (CS)