An Australian deckhand was electrocuted while thumbing the controller of a Sony PlayStation when a wave smashed into the boat's wheelhouse.

The 19-year old man, Richard Wells, was sitting at a metal table playing with the console when a huge wave broke through the cabin window.

The trawler was lying off the southern Queensland coast last week when the incident occurred. Three other crewmembers suffered shocks and burns while trying to rescue Wells from the cabin. ®