DistantNews
Support us
Construction worker suffers severe burns after electrocution in Turkey
🇹🇷 Turkey /Energy & Infrastructure

Construction worker suffers severe burns after electrocution in Turkey

From Cumhuriyet · () Turkish

Translated from Turkish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • An Albanian construction worker in Iğdır, Turkey, suffered severe burns and underwent skin grafting after accidentally contacting a high-voltage power line.
  • The worker, Ali Zeynel Erhan, was attempting to help move materials when he was electrocuted by a metal mast he was holding.
  • He is recovering and expected to be discharged soon, but expressed concerns about a lack of safety measures at the construction site.

Ali Zeynel Erhan, a 44-year-old father of four, is recovering at Erzurum City Hospital's Burn Center after a severe electrical accident on a construction site in Iğdır. He sustained third-degree burns to his right arm, requiring skin grafting. Erhan was in a coma for three days following the incident.

When I went out onto the balcony, there was a high-voltage electric line outside. The distance between us was about 2-2.5 meters. After I got close to the balcony marble, I was shocked. I opened my eyes in Erzurum City Hospital three days later. My memory was completely gone then. I didn't even know what had happened to me.

— Ali Zeynel ErhanDescribing the moment of the electrocution and his subsequent recovery.

Erhan was working as a plasterer when he tried to assist colleagues by retrieving a fallen pulley rope. He climbed to a balcony on the third floor and was electrocuted by a high-voltage line approximately 2.5 meters away. "When I went out onto the balcony, there was a high-voltage electric line outside. The distance between us was about 2-2.5 meters. After I got close to the balcony marble, I was shocked," Erhan recounted. He woke up in the hospital with no memory of the event.

They took skin from my hip and grafted it onto my arm. My treatment is still ongoing.

— Ali Zeynel ErhanExplaining the medical procedures he underwent due to the severe burns.

His injuries were extensive, affecting his right and left arms, groin, and chest. "They took skin from my hip and grafted it onto my arm," he said, noting that his treatment is ongoing. Erhan also criticized the lack of safety protocols on site. "They didn't tell us there was an electric current danger at the construction site. They didn't say be careful, there's high voltage here. There was no occupational safety," he stated.

They didn't tell us there was an electric current danger at the construction site. They didn't say be careful, there's high voltage here. There was no occupational safety.

— Ali Zeynel ErhanCriticizing the lack of safety measures at the construction site.

The psychological impact of the accident weighs heavily on Erhan, particularly concerning his children. "I can't tell my children about this incident because I am still under its influence. Only my eldest daughter knows, the others don't," he shared. Doctors at the Erzurum City Hospital Burn Treatment Center plan to discharge Erhan on June 12.

I can't tell my children about this incident because I am still under its influence. Only my eldest daughter knows, the others don't.

— Ali Zeynel ErhanDiscussing the psychological impact of the accident.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Cumhuriyet in Turkish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog