2 teens suffer shock, 1 critical

MUMBAI: Two teenage cousins, who sneaked into a Chembur hall to fly kites, came in contact with a mesh of high-tension wires and were thrown 25ft from the terrace to the road on Friday. At 5.30pm, Vikram Gupta (15) and Rajkumar (13) climbed the gate of the Bal Vikas Mitra Mandal in Yashwant Nagar, said the Nehru Nagar police.
"The boys suffered a shock when they tried to retrieve the kite that had got entangled in a live wire as manjha (string) is a good conductor of electricity.The high-tension wires are 30ft above the ground," said a fire brigade official. Vikram suffered 90-100% burns and is critical, while Rajkumar suffered 30-40% burns and is stable.
Hearing a loud bang and seeing the boys thrown off the terrace, locals initially thought that it was a cylinder blast. "
They were in a bad condition; their clothes and skin were completely burnt," said MNS party worker Nitin Nandgaonkar. Vikram is a class X student and his father is an auto driver. Rajkumar is a class VIII student and his father is a vegetable vendor.
The boys were taken to Rajawadi Hospital. "They were apparently flying kites. The kite got entangled with a live wire and they suffered an electric shock.
Vikram is critical," said Dr Mahendra Wadiwala, medical superintendent, Rajawadi Hospital. Rajkumar was shifted to Sion hospital, is said to be stable. "He suffered burns on the face and both hands. He doesn't remember what had happened. He may be in shock.We will keep him under observation for a few daysbefore we can decide on further course of action," said Dr Avinash Supe, dean, Sion hospital.
There are more than 5,000 people living in the Yashwant Nagar hutments.
"The state should take this issue seriously and examine if hutments should be allowed below high-tension wires. These hutments are built illegally with the connivance of civic authorities and political leaders.A similar incident had occurred last year, when four members of a family died after they came in contact with the high-tension wire above their hutin Nehru Nagar," said Nandgaonkar.