Mizoram highway project site accident leaves three workers dead

Three workers, including a 16-year-old boy, were electrocuted to death while shifting an electric pole at a highway construction site in the Kolasib district of Mizoram. Three other workers sustained injuries during the incident, which occurred late Saturday afternoon at Sethawn near Kolasib.

The workers were employed by a sub-contractor to replace electric poles damaged during the widening of National Highway-306, a project managed by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL). Of the deceased, two were from Myanmar and one was from Manipur.

Preliminary findings suggest the accident occurred when the electric pole came into contact with a high-voltage power line. Although workers reported switching off the power supply at three points, officials stated they had apparently switched off the wrong Gang Operated Air Break Switch (GOAB) after requesting a shutdown from a control room. Police have registered a case of unnatural death.