A 48-year-old man was in critical condition today with burns to about 45 percent of his upper body following an electrical accident in a Waikiki high-rise.

The incident happened while the man was drilling a hole in a wall in a space for the trash chute and made contact with an electrical line, causing an electric shock or possibly a blast of heat, said Honolulu Fire Department Capt. David Jenkins.

The accident caused the man’s clothes to catch on fire, and the ensuing smoke and flames set off the building’s fire alarm, Jenkins said.

Firefighters responded at about 11:20 a.m. to the ninth floor of Waikiki Skytower, 2410 Cleghorn St., and found the man in a unit cooling off in the shower.

A woman in her 50s was also looked at by paramedics for smoke inhalation and stress, but she declined transport to the hospital, Jenkins said.

An Emergency Medical Services report said paramedics treated the man for burns to almost half of his upper body and took him to a hospital in critical condition.