adminHlabile Dube Chronicle Reporter
A 13-year-old boy from Gwanda sustained severe burns on his hands, legs, thighs and back after he touched a naked high voltage live electricity cable.
A close source said Gibson Sebata from Ntalale area, was playing with his friends in his mother’s field when he touched the deadly cable last week.
“He crossed near a Zesa pole inside the field unaware of the live cables. He touched one of the cables and got his hands, legs, thighs and back, burnt,” said the source.
“He had difficulties walking home on his own since his friends had rushed home to alert the aunt who found him groaning in pain.”
The source said the boy was ferried home in a wheelbarrow and later rushed to Gwanda Provincial Hospital where he was briefly admitted before being transferred to the United Bulawayo Hospitals.
The boy’s aunt, Africa Sibanda, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview.
“I was alerted by his friends and rushed to the scene and found him lying helplessly on the ground. The burns were so serious that he could not walk,” she said.
The news crew caught up with Gibson’s mother, Sethukani Ncube at UBH who said she was away when the incident happened.
She said she reported the matter to Zesa officers in Gwanda who promised to attend to the cables.
The boy looked in pain with bandages all over the body as he lay in hospital bed. He could hardly speak.
Online Reporter