PLUMBER RECEIVES ELECTRIC SHOCK FROM “LIVE” PIPE
A plumber received an electric shock while engaged in installing a hot-water system in a house in Herbert street, Greymouth, yesterday. Only the fact that he snapped the pipe in two saved him from serious, if not fatal injuries. The plumber, Jack Cooper, aged 26, of Camerons, had just uncoupled a connection to divide a water pipe at the rear of the house when he took a grasp on both pieces. This action immediately completed an electric circuit via his body, and he was unable to release his grip on the pipes. Alone at the time, Cooper called vainly for help, and after receiving the full force of the electricity—the normal 230 volt household supply—he wrenched at the pipes -and one gave way at a rusty joint, enabling him to break the circuit.
Though shocked, Cooper did not suffer any severe burns, but, according to electricians, had be been unable to obtain his release by breaking the pipe, he would have been seriously injured. In certain circumstances, his death could have been caused. It is not known how the water pipe became “alive,” but investigations are being carried out today in an effort to locate the fault.
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Bibliographic details
Greymouth Evening Star, 23 September 1949, Page 4
Word Count
204PLUMBER RECEIVES ELECTRIC SHOCK FROM “LIVE” PIPE Greymouth Evening Star, 23 September 1949, Page 4
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