An eight-year-old boy of Plum Park, Sophia, was electrocuted by a live wire connection on Monday morning after he left his home to go fishing.
Joshua Regis, a student of Enterprise Primary School, East Coast Demerara, according to reports, left his home with the intention of catching fish in the drain next to his home.
At some point, while at the drain, Joshua reportedly slipped and in an attempt to break his fall, he grabbed onto the wire which trailed from a Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL)’s utility pole, and was electrocuted.
His lifeless body was discovered by one of his sisters in the drain with the wire still in his hands.
The wire is however a Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T)’s phone line which was speculated to have been used to steal electricity.
His mother Nicola Charles, told this newspaper that she was inside her home when Joshua’s siblings told her that Joshua was sneaking out of the house to go fishing. She added that she went outside and warned him not to go fishing. He subsequently came inside the house but was irritable because of being scolded which led to a stern warning from his father, who had just returned home from work.
Charles further stated that as she spoke to her husband, she heard some noises and went to enquire from her children what it was and it was at this point she discovered that Joshua had been shocked. She added that he was inside the drain still sitting upright with the wire in his hands.
His father, Sean Regis, immediately picked him up and rushed him to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Joshua’s parents denied having anything to do with the illegal connection.
The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) has issued numerous warnings to the public about illegal connections.
