January 26, 2007 12:00am

Article from: The Mercury

TWO young farm hands were killed when metal pipes they were carrying touched overhead electricity wires in the state's North yesterday.

The men, both 21, were electrocuted while working on a Powranna farm, near Cressy.

Police said the aluminium irrigation pipes carried by the men touched a powerline about 1.40pm.

"It is believed the men were loading the pipes on to a utility when the accident occurred," a police spokesman said.

Neither man was related to the owners of the property they were working on. Police have not released the names of the men but one is believed to be from Cressy and the other from Rowella.

Ambulance officers tried to resuscitate them but both died at the scene.

Their bodies were transported to Hobart and an inquest into their deaths will open this morning.

An Aurora inspector attended the scene and is assisting with the investigation.

Aurora said the powerlines were clipped by the pipes and did not interrupt power to surrounding areas. A spokeswoman said powerlines did not pose any danger to paramedics and police attending the scene.

Acting Inspector Peter McKenzie, of Deloraine Police, said a Workplace Standards officer had attended the scene.

He said it was a bitter example of the danger presented by live wires.

The accident was the second of its type in the Cressy area in just over four years. A 19-year-old man was electrocuted by powerlines in 2002 while carrying irrigation pipes.
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,21120366-921,00.html