Man fatally electrocuted after failed home microwave repair

EDINBURG —  A rural Edinburg man died after he electrocuted himself while attempting to repair a microwave oven, sheriff’s deputies said.

Juan Carlos Flores had partially disassembled a broken microwave oven Monday morning when he suffered a severe electric shock, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said.

Emergency crews rushed to Flores’ house along Rodriguez Street, north of Monte Cristo Road in Edinburg about 11:20 a.m. Monday. He was transported to McAllen Medical Center and later succumbed to his injuries.

A witness to the electrocution told deputies the 31-year-old man left the oven plugged in during the attempted repair, but “he was conscious enough to unplug it after the fact,” the sheriff said.

Investigators do not suspect foul play in the electrocution and believe Flores’ death was an accident.

The sheriff said people should always know what they are doing when attempting to repair appliances — especially microwaves, which operate at lethally high voltages — at home.

“Electricity does kill,” Treviño said. “You may want to leave those jobs to the professionals. This 31-year-old obviously didn’t do that.”