An electrician died Wednesday after being electrocuted while working in southwest Miami-Dade, authorities said.
The contractor, whose identity has not yet been released but some sources indicate he was Hispanic and around 30 years old, was Florida Power and Light (FPL) workers and was working on high-voltage cables on the power lines in the Palmetto Estates neighborhood at the intersection of Southwest 107th Avenue and Southwest 162nd Terrace when the fateful event occurred, according to Local 10 News.
“The truck made contact with that line and caught fire,” said Detective Luis Castro, spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Miami-Dade Fire Department personnel responded to the scene to extinguish the fire and treat the worker, who was taken to Jackson South Medical Center’s Ryder Trauma Center, where he later died.
A witness who was in the area said he saw the man fall and catch fire.
“He started shaking and caught fire again. The other workers who were with him ran to his aid,” the man said, according to an NBC Miami story.
Pictures from the crime scene show the work van badly damaged by the fire.
Sources said power lines were down in the area and traffic lights were down after the incident. Traffic was also diverted in the area.
According to the sources consulted, no further details of the tragic event have become known.
A similar event made headlines a few years ago when a Cuban was working on a construction site in Hialeah get a strong electric shock.
The victim worked as a laborer at the JRP company and, like every day, had left to continue the construction work.
At the time of the incident, he was handling a beam and accidentally crashed into the high-tension cable.