Third man dies after electrocution

AMERICAN SAMOA – An electrocution accident which happened over a week ago in American Samoa has claimed the life of a third person.

Samoa News reports that Toese Ume of Fagaitu village, and a member of the local US Army Reserve, died early yesterday morning surrounded by his family.

He had been in a coma at the LBJ Hospital intensive care unit.

He was electrocuted when a crane touched overhead power lines while lifting beams at a construction site at the Industrial Park Tafuna.

Friends and family members of Ume took to social media yesterday with messages of condolence to his family.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Labour’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has opened an investigative into the industrial incident.

The first person to die as a result of the incident was Iosefa Elia, who has left behind his wife, who is seven months pregnant, Samoa News reports.

The second was Saito Paulo of Fagaitua, one of the six people involved in the electrocution incident last Saturday. He had been in a coma in the Intensive Care Unit since the day of the incident. He leaves behind a wife and son.

The other men of the six that were involved in the incident were released on the same day of the incident.

American Samoa Power Authority chief executive officer, Utu Abe Malae earlier this week stated the incident was “heart breaking” and noted that soon after the crane contacted the high tension line, the feeder tripped out.

“If it hadn’t tripped so quickly there would have been more fatalities,” he said.- PNC