Worker Shocked When Backhoe Hits Wires

HONOLULU -- A Gas Co. employee was hospitalized after being shocked after the backhoe he was operating became entangled with wires, officials said.

The 50-year-old man was working on a gas line in Maunalani Heights when it happened.

The live wires shocked the man, throwing him from the backhoe.

"I was up on the roof and I heard a pop and I saw sparks and I saw somebody flying in the air -- like 4 feet -- and saw someone's feet and everybody came around him," witness Frank Carmana said.

"(The sound) was just a little pop, enough to make you look sideways," nearby resident Marlene Krause said. "It's not usually this exciting in this neighborhood."

Paramedics treated the man and took him to the Straub Hospital and Clinic in serious but stable condition.

Residents in the Maunalani Heights area experienced a temporary power outage as a result of the accident, officials said.