HYDERABAD: The number of deaths from electrocution during attempt by five friends to pull an alam to the rooftop of an apartment building in Saddar area a day before rose to two when one of the four critically injured friends died in Intensive Care Unit) of Liaquat University Hospital’s City branch on Monday.

In the fateful incident, one young man was electrocuted and four of his friends had suffered serious burns on Sunday night when they were trying to pull up an alam to the rooftop of an apartment building in Saddar area and it fell on high tension electricity cables.

Moazam Qureshi, 22, who was among the injured, had brought the alam and sought his friends’ help to erect it on the roof of the building in Saddar area near Jamia mosque within the jurisdiction of Cantonment police station.

He brought it in a loader and his friends Afan Shaikh, 22, Amal Kumar, Nabeel Nawaz and Subhan helped him unload it. Afan and his friends were present on a balcony of a flat on the first floor to support the alam while two friends were pulling it up from the rooftop with a nylon rope while a few others were holding it on the road.

Neighbours said that those standing on the rooftop could not handle the heavy alam properly and it slipped through their hands. Down went the alam and fell on a high tension line passing just outside the balcony. Afan was electrocuted and died on the balcony and his friend fell down the balcony. They all were shifted to Liaquat University Hospital’s City branch.

Afan alias Affi, a resident of Indus Heights near Guddu Chowk, was pronounced dead while the condition of Amal Kumar, Nabeel, Moazam and Subhan was stated to be serious.

On Monday, Amal Kumar also died in Intensive Care Unit while the other three were discharged. Late Amal was a resident of Hassanabad in Hussainabad.

Nabeel and Moazam were said to have been shifted to a Karachi hospital. Nabeel is a resident of Piprani Goth, Thatta, Amal Kumar lives in Autobahn Road area and Subhan lives in Effendi Town.

Power supply to the area went off after the incident and was restored at around 1am.

Senior Superintendent of Police Adeel Hussain Chandio also rushed to the area where the accident had taken place.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2019