Girl shocked by power line, in critical condition
- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
TODAY: (Updated 1:11 p.m.) SILVIS, Ill. — A 9-year-old girl was badly injured Tuesday while she was playing with a downed power line, according to Silvis police.
Police have identified the girl as Catalina Varela.
The girl was taken to Genesis Medical Center-Illini Campus, Silvis, and then transferred to University Hospitals, Iowa City. She remains in critical condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Police said the incident occurred at about 5:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Hospital Road.
According to police, the girl and a friend were playing in the area and found a downed power line caused by the recent winter storm. Police said the 9-year-old girl picked up the line which was not live and began pulling on it. The line she was pulling, however, crossed with a live line and she was shocked.
A neighbor immediately found the girl and with the assistance of another person pulled the child out of the ditch she was in.
Police reported that a number of homes in the Silvis area lost power because of the incident.
MidAmerican Energy Co. spokesman Allan Urlis said that 793 customers lost power from 5:25 p.m. to 8:40 p.m. due to the incident. He reiterated that downed power lines should not be approached by anyone and it should be assumed they are live. Anyone who sees downed power lines should report it to authorities.
Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.
del.icio.us
Digg
NewsVine
Fark
reddit() comments
» More Local Stories
Highest Rated Articles from the last 7 Days
- Introducing Maghound™
- Get All Your Favorite Magazines For as Low as $4.95 per Month.
- MAGHOUND.com
- Cheap Airfare
- Compare multiple travel sites. Discount web fares made easy.
- www.LowFares.com
- Holy Grail of eMarketing
- All-in-One Email Marketing Solution 1000s of Big Companies Trust Us.
- www.Lyris.com
- Ads by Yahoo!
