Repairman electrocuted

A roof repairman was electrocuted while his companion was injured when they accidentally touched a high-voltage wire while working on the roof of a two-storey house in Parañaque City yesterday.

The fatality was identified as Reynaldo Grandeza, of BF Homes, Parañaque. His companion Gilbert Lumutos, 28, suffered minor burns on the left side of the body.

He was able to climb down from the roof before being rushed to the Parañaque Medical Center in Sucat.

According to eyewitnesses, the two men were working on the roof of a house on Ignacio Celis street, BF Homes Executive Village Phase 5 at around 9:15 a.m. when the accident occurred.

Lumutos recounted that while they were assessing a damaged portion of the roof, Grandeza, also known as "Mang Jun" in the village, touched one of several wires protruding from the nearby Meralco post.

Grandeza’s body shook violently from the surge of electricity. He was killed instantly.

Contact with the wire produced sparks and triggered a fire that singed the repairman’s body and his clothes.

Lumutos, who tried to help his partner, suffered minor burns in the hands and body.

A neighbor, Elias Alano, told The STAR he was startled by a loud explosion.

"It was so loud we were sure that the neighboring house had blown up," he said. Fearing a fire, his wife and children quickly dialed the emergency numbers of the police and fire departments as well as Meralco and an ambulance.

Despite the quick arrival of the medical team and police, the victim was beyond help.

Meralco, which has a sub-station in Alabang Hills Village, about 10 minutes away from BF Executive Village, arrived after almost two hours despite repeated calls. – With Rhodina Villanueva