Man suffers serious burns after pole touches high-voltage line in Kaifeng
A man in Kaifeng, Henan province, China, was electrocuted and his clothes caught fire after a long pole he was holding touched a high-voltage power line on 3 November 2026. Local officials said he was a passer-by and had been taken to hospital. The local power supply company said the lines in the area posed no safety risk.
- A passer-by in Kaifeng was electrocuted when a long pole touched a high-voltage line on 3 November.
- A nearby shop worker put out the flames; the man was taken to hospital with serious burns.
- Kaifeng Power Supply Company said lines in the area posed no safety hazard.
A man was electrocuted and set alight in Kaifeng, Henan province, on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, after a long pole he was holding came into contact with an overhead high-voltage power line.
According to a report by The Paper, the man fell to the ground after the shock, and the clothes he was wearing caught fire.
On Thursday, 5 November 2026, the local Wuyi Street Sub-district Office and Xiyuan Community confirmed that the man was a passer-by. They said he had been taken to hospital.
His current condition has not been made public.
An employee at a nearby car accessories shop told The Paper that staff fetched a fire extinguisher and put out the flames on the man’s body.
The employee said the man’s burns were not light.
Nearby business owners described a loud noise when the incident happened. One merchant compared it to fireworks going off, with three bangs in a row, and said smoke could be seen drifting north-west from the shop entrance.
Footage shows man sitting up after fire
Surveillance footage showed the incident on the southern section of Huanghe Road in Kaifeng.
The man touched the high-voltage line overhead for reasons that are not yet known. He received a violent shock, and his whole body caught fire straight away.
Passers-by who saw the incident called the police, Next Apple News reported.
The footage shows the man still moving while engulfed in flames. People nearby then used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire.
According to the report, although his clothes were charred, the man was able to sit up on his own. Medical workers then arrived, put him on a stretcher and took him to hospital.
Power company says lines safe
Kaifeng Power Supply Company said it sent staff to the scene on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, to investigate.
The company said the lines in the area where the incident happened had no safety hazards.
It did not say whether it would take any further action, and it did not give details of how the pole came into contact with the line.
Neither the authorities nor the power company have said why the man was carrying the pole or what he was using it for.
The man’s name, age and medical condition have not been released.
