“We will not press charges against the electricity company because we consider this to have been his destiny,” relatives of the late Pallop Thachao told reporters in Bangkok, “but it is all very sad and sudden. We were driving past a tollbooth last night when Pallop said he needed to relieve himself, so we pulled over at the side of the highway, and let him out. He stood beneath an electricity pole and began to urinate, when all at once there was a flash of light, and we instantly feared the worst. We searched for him in the darkness, but all we found were ashes. Mysteriously, his artificial leg was still standing upright, all by itself, with the foot welded to the ground and smoke coming out of the top. We were all sick on the spot.”
Later, Police Captain Narongchat Sajjathai explained how Pallop Thachao had met his death. “There was a heavy rainstorm last night, and ground water had collected around the pole. An exposed cable was in contact with the water, and the stream of urine must have completed an electrical circuit. He might have survived, but his prosthetic leg was a strong conductor of electricity, and that proved fatal. Tragic though this incident is, it highlights the folly of urinating near electrical equipment, especially during the rainy season.” (Taipei Times, 5/7/03)
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