Baby held by dad survives electrocution as power line kills three | US News

A young child miraculously survived in the arms of his father after a power line fell and electrocuted two adults and a teenager to death.

The power line was pulled down by a tree branch and fell on top of an SUV shortly before noon on Wednesday, said Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman Rick Graves.

Two adults and a teen were frightened, got out of the SUV and were killed as their feet touched the ground and electricity from the wire passed through the car and onto them.

Fire crews who arrived at the scene in Northeast Portland, Oregon, found three bodies on the ground about 35 feet away from the SUV, KPTV reported.

Family members believe their loved ones slid on the icy street and into the power line. Ronald Briggs said his 21-year-old daughter, his 15-year-old son and the daughter’s boyfriend died.

A neighbor, Majiah Washington, helped Briggs take a 9-month-old baby from the arms of his dad.

‘His dad saved his life – he laid on top of his dad,’ Briggs told KGW.

Washington said: ‘In my mind, I’m just thinking “I have to get this baby.” That’s the only thing I was thinking: “I have to get this baby.”‘

The baby was rushed to a hospital and evaluated and found to be in good condition.

Briggs said he and his wife were getting into their car to make a trip to a store when they heard a ‘loud boom’.

‘My wife’s like, “Oh my god, their car is on fire,”‘ he said.

After the power line fell on the SUV, his family members inside scrambled out onto the ice, according to Briggs.

‘They were walking up the hill and they slid back down. My daughter tried to grab her boyfriend, her baby’s dad with the baby, and his foot touched the wire,’ he said.

‘My son, my 15-year-old son, tried to go down and I told him, “Don’t go down there – try to get away from them.” And he slid, and he touched the water, and he, and he died to.’

The teen, Ta-Ron Briggs, was a sophomore at Milwaukie High School, and the mother of the surviving baby was six months pregnant, Briggs said.

‘It just hurts,’ he said. Seeing my kids dying – I can’t do nothing about it.’

Neighbors at Northeast Siskiyou Street near 122nd Avenue called 911 to report a person on fire and a power line down.

As of Friday, at least 10 people have died due to dangerous winter weather in the Portland metro area.

The baby survived electrocution about a month after a four-month-old boy was found alive on a tree after a tornado sucked him out of his family’s mobile home in Clarksville, Tennessee.

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