4 dead in tragic artesian well electrocution in Zamboanga Sibugay

COTABATO CITY — Four individuals died from electrocution in a tragic accident in Barangay Tiayon in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay at about dusk on Friday.

Local executives and personnel of the Ipil Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) identified the fatalities as Norben D. Cañete, Sr., his son, Norben F. Cañete, Jr., Jayson M. Gandawan, and Renjear S. Velez.

Officials of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in the municipality and personnel of the Ipil MDRRMO told reporters on Monday that Mr. Cañete was retrieving a set of tools left at the bottom of the deep artesian well that they partly drained using an electric submersible pump that malfunctioned, causing a power surge that resulted in his electrocution.

Mr. Gandawan went down into the 28-foot well to help Mr. Cañete but got electrocuted too. Mr. Cañete’s son, Mr. Norben, Jr., and Renjear Velez, did the same and were electrocuted.

Witnesses said Mr. Norben, Jr. and Mr. Velez only stopped from jerking violently, while at the bottom of the well, after the older Mr. Cañete’s live-in partner, Annie Joy D. Sambalod, unplugged the power cord connecting the submersible pump to an electrical convenient outlet in a house nearby.

BFP personnel from its provincial office and fire stations in Ipil and nearby towns who responded to the incident had retrieved the remains of the four victims about two hours after the incident. — John Felix M. Unson