Keonjhar: A Fire Services personnel lost his life after being electrocuted while pumping out rainwater from a flooded house in Odisha's Keonjhar district on Wednesday.

Keonjhar witnessed two days of continuous rainfall that disrupted normal life, with roads, residential areas and public spaces submerged under water. To drain out the excess water, the Keonjhar Municipality and the Fire Services had deployed 10 teams across the town from Tuesday.

On Wednesday morning, two Fire Service teams were assigned to remove water from the Police Club near the Government Girls' High School under Town Police Station limits and nearby residential houses. While one team was engaged at the Police Club, another team was pumping out water from a nearby house.

Among the personnel was Chandan Pattnaik, who entered knee-deep water to lay pipes and begin the pumping operation. He reportedly came in contact with a galvanised iron (GI) wire that had been tied across the courtyard of the house for drying clothes.

According to preliminary information, the wire had become live due to an electrical fault. Pattnaik accidentally touched the electrified wire while his hands were submerged in water and suffered a severe electric shock. He collapsed before his colleagues could react.

The other Fire Services personnel quickly realised that the wire was carrying electric current. Using a plastic pipe, they pulled the wire away and rescued Pattnaik before rushing him to the District Headquarters Hospital. However, doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Police reached the spot and have launched an investigation into the incident to ascertain how the clothesline became electrified.