3 Dead in Quezon City Apartment Electrocution; Safety Probe Underway

Courtesy: Quezon City Government

Tragedy struck Barangay Pinyahan, Quezon City, on Friday evening, July 10, 2026, after three siblings were fatally electrocuted in a chain-reaction accident inside their rented apartment.

The victims—identified by authorities as Axel, 19, Negra, 15, and Andeng, 12—all passed away from cardiac arrhythmia secondary to severe electrical injury at the East Avenue Medical Center.

A Routine Chore Turns Fatal

According to initial reports from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Kamuning Police Station, the incident occurred around 6:45 p.m. on the second-floor balcony of the family’s residence on Mapagbigay Street.

The 15-year-old sister, Negra, was fixing laundry on a steel clothesline when she accidentally came into contact with an active electric current running through the wire and cried out for help

Hearing her distress, her older brother Axel and younger sister Andeng immediately rushed to her side to pull her away. However, both were instantly caught in the same live current upon touching her and the structural framework.

A fourth sibling, 9-year-old Gabo, initially moved to assist but backed away after feeling a minor electrical discharge upon touching a nearby window frame. Realizing the immediate peril, the young boy fled downstairs to alert neighbors and call for emergency response.

Grounded Circuit Breaker Blamed

Responders from the Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (QCDRRMO) and local barangay teams arrived on the scene via the city’s 122 hotline to transport the unconscious siblings to the hospital, where physicians subsequently declared them dead on arrival.

A follow-up inspection conducted by technicians from the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) revealed that while the main grid voltage was stable, an internal building defect was present. A circuit breaker dedicated to an air-conditioning compressor unit was improperly grounded. This structural fault inadvertently energized the adjacent balcony metal framework and steel clothesline.

City Government Demands Accountability

The Quezon City local government issued an official statement extending its deep condolences to the family, confirming it will shoulder the full funeral and burial expenses of the three victims.

Furthermore, the city's Social Services Development Department (SSDD) committed to providing immediate educational and psychological assistance to the surviving 9-year-old sibling who witnessed the tragedy.

Concurrently, a joint punitive inquiry has been launched by the QCPD and the Quezon City Department of the Building Official (DBO) to check the structural and electrical safety compliance history of the rented apartment complex.

City hall representatives stressed that the local government intends to file formal criminal charges and hold fully accountable any property owners or contractors found responsible for structural negligence or electrical safety code lapses.