Boy electrocuted due to negligence

MERSİN - Doğan News Agency

İsmail Özden was injured after stepping on an electric wire outside a resort. DHA photo

An 18-year-old man was left severely injured June 23 after stepping on an electric wire outside a resort in the southern province of Mersin, leading to claims of negligence by the high school student’s father.
“Who will pay for this is if my son dies? I am protesting against the officials who didn’t take any precautions. I will settle scores with them in court,” Cabbar Özden, the father of İsmail Özden, was quoted as saying by the Doğan news agency.

The student was injured while on holiday with his family at the Gümüşdere Holiday Resort in Arpaçbahşiş in the Erdemli district of the province. İsmail Özden had been returning to his family’s suite after swimming when he trod on a live electrical wire that workers from local electricity provider TEDAŞ were working to reconnect.

Özden was jolted in the incident, prompting TEDAŞ workers to immediately cut the current and rush to the aid of the stricken man, who was brought to Erdemli State Hospital before being placed in the intensive care unit at Mersin University Medical Faculty Hospital.

Criticizing alleged negligence, Cabbar Özden – himself a former TEDAŞ employee – said: “How could they let people pass by there without taking safety measures? They said that my son has epilepsy, but he doesn’t. If he had not been taken to the hospital in time, he would be dead now. He is in a coma at the moment.”

The man’s mother, Emine Özden, reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown due to the incident.

Gendarmerie officers detained five TEDAŞ employees, although the local public prosecutor’s office released the workers after taking their testimony.

Guests staying at the Gümüşdere Holiday Resort also protested the incident, gathering at the scene of the electrocution to say that TEDAŞ was attempting to repair the downed wire without first taking necessary precautions such as shutting off the current.