ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur––Four construction workers were electrocuted Wednesday while building a warehouse inside the Century Pacific Food compound in Sitio Dumagsa, Barangay Talisayan in this city.
One of the four workers died on the way to the hospital. The rest suffered burns and were treated in two other hospitals in the city, Arnold Matarlo, a member of the Talisayan Rescue Team, told the Inquirer.
Emiliano Veliganio, 26, died, while Albert Tormento, 22, Aljon Tormis 28, and Arnel Entong, 25, got serious burns, said Major Yashier Sarikin, commanding officer of the Zamboanga City Police Station (ZCPS) 9.
“We received a call for first aid around 12:40 p.m.,” Matarlo said. “We thought only three people got electrocuted, but when we reached the site, (we realized) there were four of them.”
One of the four was rushed to the Labuan District Hospital, while the three others were brought to the Zamboanga City Medical Center and Brent Hospital.
Police investigators said Veliganio had stood up from where they were working and touched a live wire lying near the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative mainline.
“His three other fellow workers tried to rescue him but were also electrocuted, as a result,” Sarikin said.
Dr. Fatima Qassim, the attending physician at the Brent Hospital, declared Veliganio dead upon arrival. “His three other companions sustained injuries and burns in different parts of their bodies,” Sarikin said.
The Zamboanga City police continued its probe to establish possible culpability or negligence in the workplace, where the four workers hired by the firm DRS Construction to build a warehouse got electrocuted.