On the evening of August 4th, Liaoning Province’s Yingkou City, Laobian District, Lunan Town faced heavy rain, causing flooding on the roads. A man was electrocuted and died while walking in the flooded area. The authorities are passing the blame on responsibility for the accident.
A viral video shows a victim’s body floating in the water, with someone attempting to pull the victim out with a stick, but to no avail. In the video, a person who appears to be the victim’s son is squatting nearby smoking, staring at the victim in the water and making a phone call to inform relatives.
An eyewitness told “Dafeng News” that the victim was a man around 45 years old, with the water reaching up to his thighs, and the electrocution was due to the water submerging electrical cables.
On the morning of August 5th, Lunan Town government responded to “Dafeng News,” confirming the incident. However, regarding the cause of the electrocution, town government officials stated that inquiries should be made to the specific management department. Subsequently, a reporter called Huanxin Community, where staff suggested contacting Laobian District government. Laobian District government staff, in turn, asked the reporter to inquire with the district’s Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau. The bureau staff mentioned needing to understand the situation before providing a response, but by the time of publishing, no response was received.
It is noteworthy that similar accidents have occurred in various parts of the country, with Yingkou City not being an exception. On August 1st, Yingkou City’s Public Facilities Maintenance Center reported that due to heavy rainfall on the night of July 31st and early morning of August 1st, some road surfaces in the city had flooded, leading to water seepage at the base of some street lamp poles, resulting in electrical leakage.
On the night of July 30th, in Zugen Town, Wutongqiao District, Leshan City, Sichuan Province, heavy rain caused street lights to leak electricity, resulting in the electrocution and death of two young men.
On the night of July 22nd, near Huanghe Road and Jingba Road in Jinshui District, Zhengzhou City, a man was electrocuted and died while walking through a flooded road section.
This incident has garnered attention online, with netizens expressing concerns. One netizen from Dalian commented, “Something similar happened in Dalian a couple of years ago.” A Beijing netizen shared, “Beijing experienced a similar incident a few years ago, where a child in a community was electrocuted while others were shocked.” Netizens from Shenyang also revealed, “Similar incidents occurred in Shenyang.”
The frequent occurrence of such events inevitably raises doubts about the safety management of municipal public facilities. Netizens commented, “Streetlight electrical leaks are so dangerous; relevant departments should have strengthened inspections long ago to prevent such incidents from recurring.” “If streetlights can kill people, who would dare to go out when it rains in the future?” “It’s not my responsibility, I don’t know, I’ll inquire and then nothing happens.” “Passing the buck is how they handle things, right?”
Some netizens questioned, “Streetlights electrocute people, not once or twice, not just for a year or two. Have the design and construction personnel or property owners ever considered improvements? Treating lives as a joke like this? Can’t high-tech solve this issue?”