Three people died from electrocution after slipping on ice on a power line that fell on a car during a storm in Portland, Oregon.
Devastated father Ronald Briggs said his 15-year-old son Tarun and 21-year-old daughter – who he did not name – died after slipping on an electrical wire while trying to save her nine-month-old baby boy. Of crushed SUVs.
The daughter's boyfriend also died after he slipped and his foot touched an exposed wire while also trying to save the child.
Mr Brij's daughter, who was also six months pregnant, shouted at her boyfriend to have the baby before she was electrocuted, prompting her brother Tarun to run and try to help until he suffered the same fate.
The icy scene in Oregon where three people died after being electrocuted. Photo: AP
“I told him, 'Don't go there, try to stay away from them,'” Briggs said.
“He slipped and touched the water and died too. I have six children. I lost two of them in one day.”
“It just hurts,” he said. “Being a good father can't solve this problem now.”
Photo: AP
The “heroic” teenager.
What is noteworthy is that the child survived the ordeal, after being saved by his neighbor, Magia Washington, who witnessed the entire event.
“I was worried about the baby, and no one was with the baby,” Washington, 18, said.
She managed to avoid the live wire, and told a press conference how she caught the child.
Neighbor Magia Washington was able to save the nine-month-old child without being electrocuted. Photo: AP
Rick Graves, spokesman for Portland Fire and Rescue, praised Washington for her heroism, admitting he did not understand how she and the child had not been electrocuted.
“Fortunately, we have a little kid who is going to be able to grow and do everything he can as we move forward,” Graves said. “And they are here, in part, because of the heroic actions of a member of our community.”
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Mr. Briggs told Portland television station KGW that his daughter came to use the Internet after her daughter was cut off during the storm.
The television station reported that he and his wife had just gotten into their car when they heard a loud bang and saw their daughter's SUV on fire.
This comes at a time when the Pacific Northwest of America was exposed to snow, freezing rain and ice last week.
Extreme temperatures have been blamed for the deaths of at least 10 people in Oregon, along with five others in Seattle due to hypothermia.
