Driller survives 11,000-volt shock

A road worker was lucky to survive an 11,000-volt shock yesterday after he drilled into a major power cable on Church St Bridge.

The 22-year-old was hammer drilling concrete on the South Yarra bridge just before 8.30am when he struck electrical cables.

He suffered a huge electric shock, his hands were badly burnt and he had flash burns to his face.

He was taken to the Alfred hospital in a stable condition after paramedics treated him at the scene.

Citipower spokesman Damien Batey said the man, from Wallan, was lucky not to have more critical injuries.

"That section of our network does run at 11,000 volts . . . considering that, he's lucky to have escaped with minor injuries," he said.

WorkSafe Victoria spokesman Michael Birt said the man had been preparing a section of footpath for paving.

He said WorkSafe and Energy Safe Victoria would investigate "job planning and the man's training and supervision".

The incident caused peak-hour traffic chaos, with cars blocked from crossing the bridge for up to two hours. About 170 Citipower customers had no power for an hour.

Source: heraldsun.com.au