Johannesburg - A suspected copper thief was burned over almost his entire body when he attempted to cut a high voltage power line in Fordsburg, Johannesburg Emergency Management (EMS) services said.
Spokesperson Percy Morokane said the man received burn wounds over 96% of his body after he experienced an electrical shock while attempting to cut a heavy current cable on the corners of Malherbe and Carr streets just before noon on Saturday.
"There was a massive explosion which knocked him metres off the scene," said Morokane.
He was stabilised on the scene and rushed to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital's burns unit.
However, the chances of him surviving were slim.
"We have done everything we could do to help, but usually when someone receives burn wounds of more than 70%, his chances of surviving become very slim."
Morokane said it looked as if the 29-year-old was working on his own when the incident happened.
There was minimal damage caused by the explosion and no power loss reported in the surrounding areas.
"We will call City Power technicians out to inspect whether there was any damaged done," said Morokane.
