VietNamNet Bridge – Working on the sidewalk of Tran Quoc Hoan Street, Hanoi, two workers accidentally drilled into the underground electric wires. After explosions, both were shot out beyond 1m and fell onto the road.

The site where the incident occured.

The two victims at the hospital.

The incident occurred at 10 am on July 29. A group of workers of a power company dug the pavement of Tran Quoc Hoan Road. In front of Alley 296, two hired workers of the Hanoi Energy Development Investment Company used a drilling machine to drill the road. Suddenly a loud bang accompanied with sparks of about 5m high shooting out, throwing the two men by over 1m away.

"The explosions sounded like a bomb. I ran outside and saw a man who was burning like a living torch. He laid down onto the road, then used his hands for self-extinguishing the fire on his chest," said a witness.

According to this man, when the incident occurred, people panicked so no one dared to approach to the victims for fear of electrical sparks. “Then one man came to help stamp out the fire on the worker. When the fire was under control, the victims’ hair and clothe were singed. The other man suffered minor injuries. Both of them were awake and taken to the hospital," the witness added.

At the scene, a 4-meter tree was singed by the spark. More than a dozen meters of sidewalk was dug about 40 cm deep, revealing black cables with a diameter of more than 10cm.

Mai Lan