Bay man electrocuted while working on power lines

A Port Elizabeth man was electrocuted while doing maintenance on an electrical power line situated on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth.

Masixole Niyabo, 30, was electrocuted at about 11am on Monday while working on a smallholding's power line in La Marseillaise Road.

Police spokesperson  Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said Niyabo was working with about 10 other workers at the time of the incident.

“He was wearing a harness and working on the wires when he must have touched a live wire. His colleagues witnessed the shock.  

"When police arrived at the scene, he was cut down from his harness which prevented him from landing on the ground,” she said.

“The deceased worked for a private contractor in the area and the exact reason for them working on the power lines is not yet known.”

Janse van Rensburg said that an inquest investigation was under way.