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Electrocuted construction worker falls to his death
View(s):An unsafe work environment at a construction site in Colombo cost the life of a construction worker on Tuesday (8).
The deceased, 29-year-old Chaminda Lakmal from Obeysekerapura in Rajagiriya was killed when he fell from the second floor of the construction site after he was electrocuted. It was found that two unprotected wires of the concrete mixing machine was the cause of electrocution.
He was rushed to the National Hospital in Colombo where he died the same day. A co-worker, Chaminda Kumara giving evidence before the coroner’s court said that the deceased was employed to operate the concrete mixing machine. He said the machine short circuited due to unprotected wiring and his colleague was electrocuted.
“When I saw the accident I shut off the main electric switch. But by them he had fallen from a height of about 40 feet,” he said, adding that his injured colleague was taken to the ICU of the National Hospital where he died the same night.
The contractor of the site, 41-year-old Chandra Kumara said that workers were using the concrete mixer to fill a slab of the building. The Judicial Medical Officer of the hospital and the Colombo City Coroner certified the death as accidental.