American tourist electrocuted in Phuket

A New Yorker slipped and grabbed a malfunctioning streetlight pole, sending a dangerous shock to the victim.

A motorcyclist rides down a street in Patong district of Phuket. (Photo: Rene Ehrhardt via Wikimedia Commons)
A bicyclist rides down a road in Phuket’s Patong district. ( Photo: Rene Ehrhardt via Wikimedia Commons )

Officials in Phuket said on Friday that an American visitor was killed when he slipped on a slippery road and was electrocuted by a malfunctioning lights.

At 9.30pm on Thursday, Thura Kyaw, 33, from New York, fell and attempted to restrain himself on a light pole while walking with his partner to a seafood restaurant in tambon Thep Krasattri of the Thalang city.

The man was taken to a local hospital after being unconscious at the pole, which might have had a life wire, according to Pol Maj Thanom Thongpaen, who spoke to Indian media.

The unconscious guy was spotted on serious CCTV footage rushing through by passers-by. They gave him CPR, but they were unable to save him.

” I saw that the man had fallen, but his foot was still touching the shaft. I tried to touch him but I was zapped myself”, the testimony, identified just as Phiew, told Asia Pacific Press.

” I managed to remove his foot from the lamppost before calling an ambulance”, he said.

Kyaw, who also has Myanmar citizenship, had flown from the US a week ago to attend his long-distance companion, whom he had not seen in six years, according to a friend.

When they arrived, I was eating breakfast at the restaurant. His girlfriend was moving forward, and he allegedly slipped on the damp ground while pursuing her, according to the friend.

Representatives from the Provincial Electricity Authority cut off energy to the mild shaft, which carried 220 volts of electricity, to avoid another incident.

They advised residents to visit the Phuket Highway District Office to handle repairs for the streetlights and said they were in charge of it.