In a shocking incident, a 34-year-old reporter who was working with a regional newspaper was electrocuted while trying to rescue five kids at a Ganesh pandal in Mahabubnagar district on Thursday midnight.

According to the police, Mallepogu Raghu was at the pandal to cover the event when the mishap occurred.

The reporter from Nawabpet in Mahabubnagar was at the Ganesh pandal with his children. The organisers of the pandal set up by Ambedkar Yuvajana Sangham were making arrangement for immersion of their idol.

The activists connected the sound system to a generator attached to the tractor carrying the idol. The generator failed to work and one of the volunteers tried to connect the wires to an overhead electric cable. This caused an electrical short circuit that was felt by those on the tractor. They started shouting. Around five kids got stuck in the vehicle including Raghu's three children.

Raghu rushed to their rescue and pulled two kids out to safety first. Then he pulled his own children out.

In the process, unfortunately, he himself came into contact with the body of the vehicle and suffered electric shock and fell down.

“He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died while undergoing treatment,” according to Nawabpet SI Praveen Kumar.

The tractor driver and two others were on the tractor when the incident occurred. However, they were not affected by the shock because the current was not conducted to that part.

Raghu was not wearing any footwear because of which he was severely hit by the electric shock. Police registered a suspicious death case and handed over the body to his family after postmortem.

Meanwhile, Telangana state Health Minister C Laxma Reddy visited Raghu's family on Friday and paid condolences to the berieved family.

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BY M.DIVYA SRI