Boy dies from electrocution

CEBU, Philippines - A nine-year-old boy died after he was electrocuted by a live light bulb in sitio Kausmangan, barangay Baring, Olango Island of Cebu last Saturday afternoon.

The fatality, Stephen Ompad, a Grade 1 pupil of Baring Elementary School, was declared dead on arrival at a hospital after sustaining severe burns in his body.

Police initial investigation showed that the child was with several playmates who went up a Sampaloc tree around 3 p.m. Ompad did not join the climb.

Insp. Damian Montebon, Sr., chief of the Olango Police, said Ompad saw the light bulb hanging from the tree, with only its screw cap and electrical contact. He reached for it.

The child, not knowing the danger it posed, reportedly played with it and even handled it as a stethoscope. He accidentally touched the wire and eventually got electrocuted.

The material was connected to a live wire, police said.

His playmates and some residents saw what happened and rushed to tell his parents.

His family rushed him to the Sta. Rosa Community Hospital but he died along the way. – (FREEMAN)