Norfolk, VA Personal Injury Lawyer Report – Three Children Are Electrocuted While Swimming

The danger of electrocution is an occupational hazard for power workers and those in the construction industry.

But as a Portsmouth, VA wrongful death lawyer, I was shocked to read of three recent deaths of children who were electrocuted while swimming in lakes by unseen electrical hazards.

In the first incident, a 13-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother were shocked and killed while swimming in the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, Reuters reported.

See this video about children who were electrocuted swimming.

The report said electricity powering lights and a pump to supply water to a slide used by children at a dock, may have been the cause of tragedy.

Two children who were swimming in Cherokee Lake in Tennessee were also suddenly shocked, when they swam between two house boats. One of the boys died and the other was initially thought to be dead.

NBC reported the local sheriff’s department thought that faulty wiring underneath one of the houseboats might have caused the shocks.

These are unexpected and tragic incidents and my thoughts are with the families of the dead children.

You may be liable in a wrongful death suit if you have live wiring on your boat or your waterfront premises and you fail to repair a known problem, leading to the death of a swimmer.

It’s a pertinent issue for cities such as Portsmouth, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News and Hampton which have extensive areas of waterways.

See the guide to electrocution and electric shock on our Virginia Beach injury lawyers site.