23-year-old dies driving over power lines after striking utility pole, Kentucky cops say
A 23-year-old woman died on Thursday, June 2, after she drove over live power lines during a storm in Kentucky, cops say.
The incident happened around 1 a.m. in Henderson, and the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office said Aureah Grimes was driving herself and three others when she struck a utility pole that was leaning over from that night’s storms.
One of the passengers got out of the vehicle as Grimes backed up, but the driver ran over live power lines, the sheriff’s office said.
Grimes died at the scene, according to the sheriff. Her cause of death has not been confirmed, but Henderson County coroner Bruce Farmer told WEHT she’s believed to have been electrocuted.
One passenger inside the vehicle received injuries and was taken to the hospital, and another passenger received an electric shock but was uninjured, the sheriff said.
Henderson County emergency management official Tim Troutman said you should stay in the car and call 911 if you see downed power lines, WFIE reported.
“Get away from the power lines any way you can without getting out of the vehicle at that point,” Troutman said. “It’s going to be important not to try to drive over them or to walk across them.”
According to SafeElectricity.org, lines do not have to be sparking to indicate they are live. Any utility line can be in contact with its power source, making them “very dangerous,” the site says.
Henderson is in Western Kentucky along the Ohio River.
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