Electrocution claims three lives during funeral procession in Kuppam

TIRUPATI: Three persons were electrocuted to death while attending the final rites of a 65-year-old woman in Thambiganipalli village, Kuppam mandal of Chittoor district on Friday. The mishap took place when a group of family members and relatives were participating in the final rites of Ranemma.

Sources said that as the funeral procession neared the outskirts of Thambiganipalli, the mishap took place. Four persons who were carrying Ranemma's body accidentally came into contact with low-lying electric cables, resulting in an electric shock. Three of them were electrocuted, instantaneously losing their lives at the scene of the incident, while the fourth person was rescued by those present at the scene.

The deceased have been identified as Tirupati Rao, 28, M. Muneppa, 45, and Ravindra, 30. The Kuppam police registered a case and shifted the bodies for post-mortem. Locals alleged that potential negligence on the part of the electricity department led to the presence of hazardous electrical wires in the vicinity of the burial ground.