07/06/2004
Yachtsman has lucky escape as mast hits power line
Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) has issued a strongly worded safety warning to the sailing community to take extra caution when navigating inland waterways during the sailing season.
The warning follows an incident last week in Comber, County Down, where a man received an electric shock when his yacht came in contact with a high voltage overhead line near Island Hill.
David Cooke, NIE Safety Officer says this incident could easily have resulted in a fatality: “We would urge all sailors to plan their route around any inland waterway carefully and always be on the look out for overhead lines in the vicinity of the waterways. In this incident injuries were sustained and the yacht was completely destroyed, we cannot stress strongly enough the risk people take when hazards are not identified and safety practices are not followed.”
NIE said that a number of customers in the area were without electricity supplies from around 2.30pm until 4.15pm while engineers carried out repairs to the line.
(SP)
The warning follows an incident last week in Comber, County Down, where a man received an electric shock when his yacht came in contact with a high voltage overhead line near Island Hill.
David Cooke, NIE Safety Officer says this incident could easily have resulted in a fatality: “We would urge all sailors to plan their route around any inland waterway carefully and always be on the look out for overhead lines in the vicinity of the waterways. In this incident injuries were sustained and the yacht was completely destroyed, we cannot stress strongly enough the risk people take when hazards are not identified and safety practices are not followed.”
NIE said that a number of customers in the area were without electricity supplies from around 2.30pm until 4.15pm while engineers carried out repairs to the line.
(SP)
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