Would-be copper thief electrocutes self Rene Bruemmer, CanWest News Service; Montreal Gazette
Published: Monday, January 08, 2007 * * * * MONTREAL -- A man in his 40s was electrocuted while trying to steal copper wire from an electrical tower at a company in Montreal's north end Saturday night.
The man scaled a fence surrounding a tower in Montreal North. He climbed about 10 metres before cutting a high-voltage cable. He fell to the ground.
Workers at the company found the body and called an ambulance. Tools for cutting wires were found at the scene.
The man's identity will not be released until police can contact his family. He was so badly burned, police could only say "we believe he's a white male."
The electrical tower was privately owned by the company and did not belong to Hydro-Quebec, officials at the utility company said. Hydro workers came in to shut the power to allow police and ambulance technicians to work at the scene.
The theft of electrical wiring has increased as metal prices have soared in the last few years, Hydro-Quebec spokesperson Sylvain Theberge said, although its rare to have someone climb a high-tension electrical tower in search of copper.
Wires in electrical towers can have tens of thousands of volts running through them, Theberge said, which can kill instantly. It isn't even necessary to contact them - electricity can arc from a high-tension wire to a body that is eight or 10 centimetres away.
"That's why we keep putting out the same message to people who are risking their lives, because that's what they're doing," Theberge said.
"It is extremely dangerous to venture out on to this type of installation, and we tell people to avoid this type of theft, because the consequences can be far worse than expected." |
