Portland, Oregon: A heartbreaking accident happened in Portland. An overhead power line fell on a parked car in Portland on Wednesday, killing three adults and wounding a baby amid an ice storm that left roads and mountain roadways perilous in the Pacific Northwest.
Shortly before noon, dispatchers started receiving frantic calls about a downed power line and people seeming to be electrocuted, according to a statement from the city’s fire department.
A branch had fallen on the line, forcing it to fall onto an SUV, the statement stated.
As the chaotic situation evolved, a resident pulled the infant from one of the persons lying in the street in an effort to save its life, according to the statement. The three killed — two adults and one teenager — were found dead upon firefighters’ arrival, and the baby was brought to a hospital.
“It appears as if they were scared and exited the vehicle,” Portland Fire & Rescue spokesperson Rick Graves said.
The victims are suspected to have been electrocuted after exiting the car, according to the statement.
Daniel Buck, who lives just a few steps from where the killings occurred in northeast Portland, said that he heard an explosion and then saw a person sprinting out of a car with the downed line on top, engulfed in flames. When he drew closer, he claimed he noticed that individual and two others on the ground approximately 35 feet from the automobile, where the rest of the power line had fallen. He claimed he observed one of the victims’ pant legs on fire.
The three deaths on Wednesday brought the total to at least seven deaths caused by fallen trees and suspected hypothermia during the previous weekend’s storm.
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