Cancun, Q.R. — A man believed to have been trying to steal cable from a CFE box in Cancun died Wednesday evening. Residents in a Cancun suburb called the CFE after a section of the city was suddenly without power. The CFE was also notified of the event by 9-1-1 emergency services after motorists reported seeing a man tampering with an electric box and get shocked.
When CFE (Federal Electricity Commission) personnel arrived at the site of the outage, they found a man laying unconsciousness. He is believed to have been attempting to steal copper wiring from the live cables in the underground box.
However, while doing so, he was electrocuted. More than 10,000 people were left without electricity due to the theft attempt.
The incident happened at a utility box located on the road to Punta Sam. Due to the heavy rain and depth of the box, personnel were unable to reach him. CFE cut power to the entire area while Cancun firemen worked to remove the man’s body from inside the box.
In a brief note, the CFE reported that “the power supply was interrupted due to the failure of a 115 kV line, affecting 10,129 users in the municipality of Benito Juárez, Quintana Roo.
“The cause of the interruption was a person who was injured while tampering with electrical wiring in a restricted area without authorization and who unfortunately died. The CFE urges citizens not to tamper with electrical infrastructure and to avoid illicit uses of the grid. Any suspicious activity can be reported to 071.”
