Woman receives shock from EV charging unit, suffers burn injuries

Kochi: A former municipal councillor had a miraculous escape when she suffered minor burn injuries while putting the EV charging gun back into its socket in KSEB's charging unit at North Paravur on Monday. Swpna KL, of Vaniyakkad, was charging her electric car at the charging unit near KSEB substation around 6.45am when the incident occurred. She was alone in the car."When the power charging touched 59%, the supply went off around 7.15am. I got off the vehicle and tried to put the charging gun into its socket. As I was putting it back, a loud explosion sound was heard accompanied by sparks. I was thrown away from the spot and fell on the ground. I suffered burns on the left thumb and on the right thigh. The doctor said the burn on the thigh is because of the electricity, which entered my body from the charging unit, was released in the shock. It is a 1000-volt charging unit. I am lucky to escape the high-voltage power supply despite it entering my body. I have severe pain in my chest and the doctor advised me to get hospitalized," said Swpna.She filed a complaint with North Paravur police in connection with the incident. She had charged her vehicle from the same unit on Sunday too.Meanwhile, a KSEB official said the private agency, which installed the charging unit, and the electrical inspectorate officials would examine it on Tuesday. "We do not know what led to the incident. It is suspected that even the server of a CCTV unit nearby was damaged in the impact of the incident. No such accident has occurred in the state so far. Based on the inspection report, we will take further steps," said the KSEB official.The EV charging station near the 110 kV substation at Mannam was installed around four years ago. Following the incident, power supply to the unit has been suspended.