A man who suffered burns while attempting to cut a transformer wire in Addu is undergoing treatment at Equatorial Hospital, following an incident that disrupted local power supply.
Addu’s connected islands experienced a two-hour power outage in the early hours of Saturday. Ibrahim Shinaz, Councillor for Korovau constituency, alleged on Friday that the problem stemmed from a man in Feydhoo trying to cut a cable.
Police confirmed that a 33-year-old man was electrocuted and they received reports at 03:05 on Saturday morning while attempting to cut a wire from a transformer in Feydhoo. Police are investigating the incident and have not provided further details about the injured individual.
When contacted by Sun, a hospital official stated that the man is recovering from third-degree burns to his right hand and remains hospitalized.
The streets of Feydhoo, Addu city. (Sun Photo/Fayaz Moosa)
Meanwhile, Shinaz reported on Saturday that power was restored to some areas about an hour after the outage began past midnight on Friday, with full restoration to all affected areas within two hours. Shinaz reiterated that the power outage was not due to an issue with the main power plant but rather an attempt to cut a cable in Feydhoo.
“The person who was electrocuted was taken to the health centre. He was severely burnt, I think, electrocuted while trying to cut a main cable,” he said.
There has been an increase in simultaneous power outages across Addu’s connected islands, the country’s second most populous city.
Feydhoo North MP Ismail Nizar emphasized the urgent need to address the issue, stating that it is intolerable for Addu residents to continue living in such ‘darkness’.
The streets of Feydhoo, Addu city. (Sun Photo/Fayaz Moosa)
Fenaka, which provides utility services in Addu, installed a 1.8-megawatt generator set on February 21 to alleviate the power outages. An additional 1-megawatt generator set was sent on March 13, and another 1.8-megawatt generator on March 25.
Fenaka and the Addu City Council have previously stated that a 15-kilowatt generator is necessary to resolve Addu's electricity problems. Many believe the power issue in Addu will be resolved once the new power house is completed. However, the project has yet to commence, as the current government assigned the work to a Chinese company.