Barangay chairman dead, 3 hurt in accidental electrocution

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A barangay chairman was electrocuted while setting up a street light in a secluded area in Midsayap town in Cotabato province Saturday, an accident that left three of his aides badly injured.

Midsayap Mayor Rolly Sacdalan, who is overseeing the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said on Saturday that Leonito Cabada, chairman of Barangay Bitoca, died in the incident.

Citing initial reports from personnel of their MDRRMC and the Midsayap Municipal Police Station, Sacdalan said Cabada and three others were together erecting a galvanized iron pole for a solar-powered street light that accidentally tangled with high-tension power lines dangling between two posts, causing their electrocution.

Emergency responders tried, but failed to revive Cabada who, according to witnesses, immediately passed out after about three to five minutes of convulsive seizures as his hands gripped the metal pipe that hit the power cable.

His three companions whom emergency responders had pulled out one after another from the scene, initially identified only as Ainz, Cendric and Carlo, are now confined in a hospital.