Man with false leg
electrocuted after
urinating near pole

                     July 7 2003

                     A Thai man with a prosthetic leg was
                     electrocuted when he urinated near a
                     power pole on the side of a highway in
                     Bangkok.

                     The 27-year-old victim's father told
                     police they had stopped their car near
                     a toll booth during a rainstorm
                     yesterday, after nature called.

                     Transport officials told The Nation
                     newspaper that the victim's
                     prosthetic leg could have acted as a
                     strong conductor of electricity at the
                     spot, which was not an authorised
                     parking zone.

                     Thawil Phuengma, dean of engineering
                     at King Mongkut's University of
                     Technology said the man probably
                     urinated on an uncovered ground line
                     near the pole.