A mother and son duo were electrocuted and died due to burns when an overhead 11-KV electric wire got snapped following a short-circuit triggered by a squirrel on Tuesday morning.
According to APSPDCL Superintendent Engineer S. Varakumar, the mother and son duo Venkatalakshmi, 60, and Venkataswamy, 30, while crossing the snapped wire, got in contact with and dragged it for some distance.
"Usually when a 11KV wire gets snapped, power gets tripped in the substation and the line is recharged for few seconds after a gap of two minutes to test the line and unfortunately the duo seem to have come in contact with the charged wire at that time leading to their death," Mr. Varakumar said.
Tadipatri DSP VNK Chaitanya told The Hindu that the incident took place at 11.30 and the APSPDCL officers informed them about it.
While the police began investigation on the spot, the SPDCL SE said they had sent a team to inquire into the incident and action would be taken against those responsible. The transmission line is usually checked every month for maintenance.
The deceased hailing from Varadaipalli in Peddapappur mandal in the district were on their way to collect cow dung for a religious ceremony in a village temple.
