A man was killed after receiving an electric shock from a lamp post while wet following a visit to a beach on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island, with staff at a nearby resort saying the light had not been checked for 10 years.

Police received a report at 8.32pm on Wednesday that a man surnamed Chan, 57, had been left unconscious after touching a lamp post.

“When the deceased tried to reach for some wild berries, his hand touched a lamp post next to the resort, and his body froze as if hit by an electric shock,” a source said on Thursday.

The source said the man, a construction worker, was on holiday with a female colleague, 52, on Wednesday at the Seaview Holiday Resort in Mui Wo. The pair were walking on a path on their way back to the resort at around 8pm after spending time at the nearby Silvermine Bay Beach.

The man was trying to reach berries on a tree next to the lamp post.

His colleague, who reported the case to police, tried to kick the man away from the lamp post after seeing he had received an electric shock. However, he collapsed onto the ground unconscious.