Schoolboy, 12, loses arms, leg after electric shock
Eliam Benjamin, a 12-year-old boy, is battling for his life at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre after doctors amputated his arms and right leg following an electricity accident last week.
Benjamin suffered a massive electric shock after accidentally touching a live Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) cable and suffered third-degree burns.
Sadly, surgeons at QECH were powerless to salvage his arms and right leg which have since been amputated, according to his family.
The Standard Five pupil at Chigumula Primary School in Blantytre is currently receiving medical attention at QECH’s male ward in the Burns Unit.
His uncle, Alfred Mangazi, said in an interview on Tuesday that Benjamin’s condition is getting worse by the day compared to the time he was admitted to the situation to the deep burns he sustained.hospital. He attributed the
He said: “He is not okay. His condition is deteriorating almost every day and we have asked Escom officials to assist us.”
The boy is said to have met his fate while playing with colleagues along the Limbe-Thyolo Road when he accidentally touched a loose electricity live wire whose pole was about to fall to the ground.
Mangazi said that prior to the incident, Escom technicians had just left the site after working on the pole when it lost balance, resulting into its wires getting close to the ground.
He said: “Unknowingly, the boy together with his two friends came into contact with the cables which threw them onto the ground, They suffered severe burns, but my nephew was badly struck as compared to his colleagues.”
However, the uncle has blamed his nephew’s misery on Escom’s unwillingness to immediately help the boy after its officials were alerted about the incident.
In an interview on Monday, Escom public relations manager Kitty Chingota confirmed the incident, but said the company was in touch with the family over the matter.
She also confirmed that the accident occurred hours after her company’s technicians completed installing optic fibre cables around the site where the pole tilted.
“We are aware about the incident and we are making follow ups with the family at the hospital,” said Chingota.
According to Benjamin’s uncle, the two other victims despite having burns and failing to walk, are at their homes in Chigumula. n
