Five people were electrocuted in a freak accident at an Indiana pool Sunday afternoon, including two young girls and a teenage boy who is being hailed as a hero for saving the others, police said.
A married couple, their two children — a 16-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter — and the girl’s friend were all lost while taking a dip in the family pool as they tried to stay cool on a hot summer day, Logansport police said.
The scary episode began around 2:30 p.m. when the group felt a “vibration” in the pool, prompting the father to call for someone to turn off the sump pump, Logansport Police Chief Travis Yike told Fox 59.
All five were shocked by the electrified water – to varying degrees – before the sump pump was shut down.
At least two of the victims were unresponsive when authorities first arrived, police said.
All were taken to the hospital with various injuries but all are expected to survive in part thanks to the teenage son who works as a local lifeguard and reportedly pulled his injured family members and his sister’s friend from the pool.
“I want to give credit to the young man who was in the pool when this happened,” Yike told the local Fox station. “And also got hurt but took it upon himself when the power went off to jump out and recognize what was going on and save the lives of his dad and his sister and his sister’s friends.
“If it wasn’t for the heroism of a 16-year-old youth involved in this, it could have been very different.”
Investigators determined the electrocution was caused by a line on the pool pump that was pinched by the pool’s ladder, breaking its protective cover and exposing the line to the water, police said.
“It’s an unfortunate accident but luckily everyone is OK,” Yike told Fox 59.