By Jennifer P. Rendon

A farmer died of possible electrocution at Sta. Barbara, Iloilo on Wednesday, August 2.

A minor saw the body of the 54-year-old victim (name withheld) slumped in a vegetated portion of Barangay Miraga Guibuangan, Sta. Barbara at around 3 p.m.

He was rushed to Western Visayas Sanitarium and General Hospital (WVSGH) in Sta. Barbara town but was declared dead at 5:34 p.m. of the same day.

Captain Jojo Octavo, Sta. Barbara deputy police chief, said that the victim’s neighbor, Rinaldo Defile, surmised that the victim could have been electrocuted after he touched a loosely hanging wire.

Police investigators surmised that the victim could have been foraging for mushrooms when his arm accidentally brushed with a live wire concealed among the leaves of a tree.

The wire is connected to a nearby piggery.

Octavo said they could not yet ascertain what time the incident happened.

Defile claimed to have seen the victim at around 7 a.m., as he did his usual routine of feeding his goats.

Meanwhile, the family said they believed that the victim’s death was purely accidental.

Octavo said they are still investigating if there is someone who should be held liable for what happened.