A 43-year-old man was killed and his young daughter and niece injured after exposed to stray current in a Palm Springs, Calif., pool.
Several children were in the pool and jumped out upon feeling a tingling sensation. James Tramel jumped in when he saw his daughter sink. He was able to get the child to the deck, but then fell unconscious and later passed away. Tramel’s daughter was hospitalized with serious injuries. Her condition wasn’t known at press time. Tramel’s niece also was hospitalized, but released fairly quickly.
While an investigation is still taking place, officials believe corrosive or faulty wires in a pool light were to blame, said Sgt. William Hutchinson, public information officer for the Palm Springs Police Department. Some accounts placed the daughter closest to the light, so officials believe she likely took the brunt of the current, Hutchinson said. The exact age of the pool isn’t known, but it was built before the National Electrical Code required ground fault circuit interrupters, Hutchinson said.
“Many of us have families with small children, so this was a very sad and tragic situation for everyone involved,” he said. “I immediately scheduled a licensed inspector to come home [to inspect my pool].”
