Electric cooperative employee killed on the job in South Carolina, official says

An employee of a power company was killed Tuesday while working in the Midlands, according to Black River Electric Cooperative.

The lineman, who has not been publicly identified by the Kershaw County Coroner’s Office, was working with a crew on Canty Hill Road in Cassatt, Black River CEO Charlie Allen said in a release. That’s in the area between U.S. 1 and Interstate 20.

The lineman touched “a piece of equipment that had become energized,” Allen said. Further information about the incident and what the crew was working on was not available.

Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and he was taken to MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to Allen.

No other injuries were reported in what Black River called an accident.

“Black River is a close-knit family, and we are devastated with this loss,” said Allen. “We are praying for his family and his fellow linemen, and all of the people who called him a friend. He had the best personality, loved to talk to everyone and adored his wife and children. Words cannot express how much he will be missed.”

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