Date:08/02/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/08/stories/2007020805340300.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur

Six hurt, 15 houses damaged in fire mishap

Staff Reporter

Despite repeated calls, CPDCL personnel take two hours to disconnect power to the village

ANANTAPUR: Six persons were injured, two of them seriously, when they tried to switch off power in their houses after they saw fire in internal wiring due to accidental influx of high voltage into domestic lines on Wednesday. The influx of high voltage was caused when a 11kv power cable snapped and fallen on the low power lines.

Villagers experienced the horror for two hours -- from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., as the CPDCL personnel allegedly failed to respond to the repeated phone calls by the villagers to shutdown power supply to the village to save their lives and houses.

Fifteen 15 houses, along with all gadgets like television sets, were damaged. The villagers said that there could have been major loss of life had the incident occurred in the night.