Two Children Electrocuted At Lake Of The Ozarks

[Stoneroller]

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (AP) - Two Missouri children have died after coming into contact with electricity while swimming at the Lake of the Ozarks on the Fourth of July.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol identified them as 13-year-old Alexandra Anderson and her 8-year-old brother Brayden, of Ashland.

The Patrol says the children were swimming near the 6.5 mile marker in the Gravois Arm of the lake when they were electrocuted by an “unknown source of electricity” just after noon Wednesday.

KOLR-TV reports several adults at the scene removed the children from the water and performed CPR until medical crews arrived.

The children were taken to an area hospital, where doctors pronounced them dead.

"Unknown source of electricy"... that seems rather odd to me.

[Stoneroller]

Reuters

6:48 p.m. CDT, July 4, 2012

By Tim Ghianni

July 4 (Reuters) - A 10-year-old boy was electrocuted and his friend seriously injured on Wednesday when they were shocked

after jumping into a lake off a docked houseboat in eastern Tennessee.

Five people who tried to aid the children also were shocked

in the incident at the German Creek Boat Dock in Bean Station,

Tennessee, where two families were celebrating Independence Day

on a houseboat on Cherokee Lake, officials said.

"People on board the houseboat heard some screams and found

the two boys floating in the water, with their life jackets on,

unconscious," said Matt Cameron, a spokesman for the Tennessee

Wildlife Resources Agency.

Bean Station is 45 miles northeast of Knoxville, Tennessee.

The second child, who is 11, was flown to the University of

Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville by helicopter where he was

in serious condition, while the five others were admitted to a

hospital in nearby Morristown, Tennessee, officials said.

"We're hoping for the best, that's all I can say about it

right now," Cameron said of the second child.

Power was shut down to the marina where the electrocution

occurred and law enforcement and state officials were trying to

determine the source of the electricity, Cameron said.

(Reporting by Tim Ghianni in Nashville; Editing by David Bailey

and Peter Cooney)

[Stoneroller]

two instances of children dying from 'unknown electrical sources'.... odds on that have got to be astronomical.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Not odd, but predictable in areas without strict code compliance. Electrocution from any source over water is easily prevented.

[fishinwrench]

That makes the 3rd incident like that at Lake Ozark this year. In one of the previous incidents people (not knowing wtf was going on kept jumping in to help the ones in distress not realizing that they were getting shocked and it nailed about 4-5 people.

Initial codes here are strict but the constant rocking and rolling that these docks are subjected to eventially exposes wires.

If you know what to look for you can spot the effects of electralysis on moored boat lower units and dock cables. Even though a GFI is installed.

Im no electrician but.....Many times the service to the dock is buried and a GFI is installed at the walkway and the exposed wire is underground near the shoreline before the GFI. The GFI probably doesn't do any good when that happens, and current can leach through the damp soil into t he water. The GFI should probably be installed ahead of the buried wire.

A buddy of mine got bit once while reaching down with his rod tip to unhook a spinnerbait from a dock cable. Ya just never know.

[Stoneroller]

what's odd to me is the stories make it seem like the 'authorities' aren't overly concerned with the source of the electrical shock. Could just be the reporting, but it seems like that might be a priority after a death.

[Wayne SW/MO]

The GFI should probably be installed ahead of the buried wire.

Yup, before current has chance to touch the dock. The cables aren't a worry in the water because the lake will absorb any leakage, or throw a breaker, but eventually the leave the water and any leak there can energize the dock and that leakage will take the first path to ground it's offered.

Every state, county and municipality is different, but in Missouri there is no standard. While some things should be left to locals, I'm a fan of that concept, but building standards aren't within the average persons skills. It's one thing for an official to know you need tornado warnings, but finding one that understands the NEC code ain't gonna happen.

[Guest]

deleted

[Jack Jones]

I grew up practically on a lake and I have never heard of this issue before. That said, I tend to believe that the codes in our area were much more stringent, even several decades ago. I've seen many of the hack jobs that some crews take out here. It scares me.

I hope they find the source of the one up at LOZ. Guarantee there was no reason those kids had to die except carelessness.

[Wayne SW/MO]

It was a amateur wiring job, which was the only thing it could have been. The dock had a pump and a lift so the only mystery was which one went to ground.

Its sad because it was 100% preventable and not an accident.