Dubai: Man to pay Dh400,000 after 2 die from electrocution while installing fish tank

An Arab director and owner of a company selling ornamental fish has been ordered to pay Dh200,000 each to the families of two workers who died after being electrocuted while installing a fish tank.

The Dubai Misdemeanours Court also gave the owner a one-year suspended jail term after finding that the Asian workers were electrocuted inside the owner's Jumeirah villa.

The owner had filed a police report in July, saying another person had told him that the workers had died of electrocution after a cleaning device they bought to maintain the tank short-circuited.

However, the forensic reports showed that the accident was caused by a disconnected extension line that supplied electricity to the aquarium's pump. The water then became charged with electricity, electrocuting the workers once they touched it.

Reports also showed that the workers did not have adequate tools or training to operate safely in the water. The lack of these measures was deemed an oversight on the part of the company, making the owner complicit in the workers' deaths.

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The owner denied the accusations, saying the two victims were responsible for their own deaths as they were obligated to work on the tanks the company installed.

• Dubai