Man dies after electric shock from overhead cables throws him from his truck in Sussex

A crane mounted on his truck touched a power cable as he loaded hay bales

A man was killed while working in a field after a crane mounted on the truck he was driving touched high voltage overhead cables and electrocuted him.

Sussex Police said that the man, who has not been named, died shortly after the incident at Pond Farm in East Ashling, near Chichester in Sussex.

At around 9:30 on the morning of Saturday 18 July, the man was preparing to load hay bales onto the truck in a field.

After the truck-mounted crane touched the cable, the man was immediately thrown from the cab of the vehicle by the electric shock he suffered, and power was knocked out to 400 nearby homes.

He was taken by helicopter the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, but sadly died.

The Health and Safety Executive, which looks into criminal breaches of healthy and safety law, are aware of the incident, and are currently investigating.