Child allegedly electrocuted by exposed municipal cable

His friends were unable to retrieve him from the huge puddle, as the water shocked them.

Puddle.

A 10-year-old boy was apparently electrocuted when he rode his bike through a puddle where a live electrical Thaba Chweu Municipality (TCM) municipal wire was exposed in Mpumalanga, Steelburger News reports.

Little Jayden Landsberg was killed while he had been riding with friends. He rode through the puddle of water on the corner of Rivier and Lombaard streets when the incident occurred. According to witnesses on the scene, his friends said they were unable to retrieve him from the huge puddle as the water “shocked them”.

Members of Phoenix Security were first to arrive at the scene just before 17:00. They, together with Mr Tiaan Erasmus, immediately applied CPR and rushed him to the medical centre in town. Unfortunately, after several desperate attempts by doctors, he was declared dead.

Members of Phoenix Security, local hazmat operator Mr Deon Broekman and bystanders went back to the scene after TCM electricians were called out to determine if the wire lying in the puddle was indeed live.

The newspaper accompanied them. According to the electricians, it was not, but a private electrician was called in for a second opinion. He, however, determined that the wire was indeed a 230-volt cable and that it could have led to the child’s death.

Jayden had been a pupil at Laerskool Lydenburg. Countless messages of sympathy have since flooded Facebook.