Curiosity led to tragedy on Saturday morning when a trespassing railway fan was shocked by a high-voltage power line while taking photographs in the Qianzhen Switchyard (嚙箴嚙踝蕭嚙踝蕭嚙踝蕭) in Kaohsiung City.
Twenty-five-year-old graduate student Chuang Chieh-ren (嚙踝蕭嚙褒伐蕭) was zapped while taking pictures from the top of a train car. He suffered third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body and has been hospitalized at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.
Railway police investigating the accident found that Chuang and a younger classmate, surnamed Yao (嚙踝蕭), entered the switchyard via the railway crossings on Ersheng Rd.
The guard who was supposed to watch the crossings had been patrolling the tracks.
嚙踝蕭We were trying to see what it looked like inside,嚙踝蕭 Yao said in a video clip aired by Eastern Television, when asked why Chuang climbed atop the train car.
Though there were signs on the trains warning people about the danger of high voltage power on the cars, Chuang decided to climb anyway.
Yao said he was about to climb the car as well when he heard a loud sizzling sound and discovered Chuang, whose body was smoking.
Yao said he immediately ran to the crossing to seek assistance.
Paramedics cooled Chuang嚙踝蕭s body with water before transporting him to the hospital.
Wu liang-chun (嚙範嚙罷嚙綞), station master of the Taiwan Railway Administration嚙踝蕭s Kaohsiung Station, said the 25,000 voltage power line is about 5m above the ground, while the top of the train car was about 3.5m off the ground.
He said Chuang was only 1.5m from the power line and his head might have gotten too close to the power line.
Chuang嚙踝蕭s mother said her son studied interior design at school and had volunteered to help the Kaohsiung City Government redesign the Hamasen (嚙踝蕭嚙踝蕭嚙瞑) area near the Kaohsiung Port.
She said she wa praying for her son嚙踝蕭s recovery.
Railway police said Chuang and Yao had not broken the Railway Act (嚙皺嚙踝蕭嚙糊), which only stipulates punishments for those who climb onto or jump off a train car when it is in motion.
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