Horror as US tourist, 33, is killed by electric shock after slipping and grabbing hold of faulty streetlight in Thailand

An American tourist was killed by an electric shock when he slipped and grabbed a faulty street lamp for support in Thailand.

The 33-year-old victim from New York was walking to a restaurant in Phuket with his girlfriend when he slipped on a muddy sidewalk last night.

When he reached out to grab a street lamp to steady himself, he was electrified and fell to the ground.

Dramatic CCTV footage showed passers-by rushing to save the unconscious man. They performed CPR but were unable to revive him.

Police suspect an exposed wire touched the wet metal, prolonging the current. The tourist then touched the surface and was killed.

Police Major Thanom Thongpaen of Thalang District Police Station said officers received a report at 9:30 p.m.

Medics arrived and rushed the victim, who was a dual American and Burmese national, to Thalang Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

A friend of the victim’s girlfriend said the man had flown in from America about a week ago to visit his long-distance partner, whom he had not seen for six years.

She said: ‘I was eating in the restaurant when they arrived. His girlfriend was leading the way and he slipped on the wet ground as he followed her.”

A local named Phiew said a customer told him someone had been electrocuted in front of the restaurant.

He said: ‘I saw the man had fallen but his leg was still touching the post. I tried to touch him, but I got zapped myself.

“I was able to get his leg out of the streetlight before I called an ambulance.”

Officials from the Provincial Electricity Authority investigated the scene and discovered that the pole was carrying 220 volts of electricity.

To prevent further accidents, the power supply was temporarily disconnected.

They advised residents to call the Highway District Office for repairs.

Thailand is a rapidly growing country, but still faces development challenges such as outdated infrastructure, chronic flooding, traffic congestion and air pollution.

Widespread corruption is also a problem that hinders progress, with money being siphoned off to wealthy families or local officials instead of being spent on public services.

Researchers from Transparency International found in 2023 that 88 percent of residents believe government corruption is a major problem in the country.

Earlier this year, a US-based travel influencer was left ‘fighting for her life’ after she was electrocuted by power lines in a ‘freak accident’ in Thailand.

Cara Hodgson, 33, a social media star and orthodontist from Los Angeles, California, was ‘rushed to the emergency room’ and forced to spend ten days ‘in and out of hospitals’ after experiencing a horrific accident during a visit to the Asian country.

Reflecting on the accident on her social media account on New Year’s Day, she wrote: ‘In the blink of an eye it can all be taken away. Happy to be here, 2024.

Cara shared a carousel of images, including one of her lying in a hospital bed and another showing the IV in her arm.

Another recording was of a note she wrote to herself on a piece of paper while in the hospital, which read, “Today is the first day I can eat and sit up in bed.

Last February, a schoolgirl was fatally electrocuted by her phone charger after touching a frayed extension cord at her home in Thailand.

Rattanawadee Poontawee, 12, was found dead in her home in Nakhon Nayok province, Thailand, on February 13, after she grabbed the phone charger that was still plugged in.

Her grandmother, Chaweewan Poontawee, 58, was in another room when she heard a loud bang “like someone falling.”

The grandmother found her granddaughter lying on the floor shaking after touching an exposed part of the electrical cord attached to her phone.

She called emergency services, but the girl died before she could be rushed to a hospital.

In 2019, a woman miraculously survived being hit by a 22,000-volt power line after it collapsed while she was crossing the road in Thailand.

Malinee Weerasuchart, 38, was standing on the sidewalk when the overhead wire fell and hit her legs, causing a bright flash of sparks.

Video showed the wire hitting Ms Weerasuchart’s shoulder before the exposed end fell onto her right leg.

A nearby motorcycle taxi driver dragged her away from the wire to safety on the sidewalk.

Ms Weerasuchart needed at least two months of rehabilitation and her family said they spent 974,315 baht (£25,096) on medical bills.

They claimed that the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), which is responsible for the cable, has not paid them any compensation.