LAKE OF THE OZARKS, MO -- Update: Thursday, July 5th at 12:30 p.m.:
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (AP) -- Authorities say improper wiring led to the deaths of two children at the Lake of the Ozarks on the Fourth of July.
Thirteen-year-old Alexandra Anderson and her 8-year-old brother Brayden, of Ashland, were swimming near a private a dock when electricity traveled into the water.
Sgt. Paul Reinsch of the Missouri State Highway Patrol says there was no ground fault interrupter to monitor the current and trip the electricity if there was a problem.
He says the electricity could have come from several sources, including a boat lift or a pump used to power a water slide.
Update: Wednesday, July 4th at 9:58 p.m.:
The highway patrol now suspects an electrical grounding problem on the dock as the source for the electricity.
Autopsies are scheduled to be performed Thursday.
Update: Wednesday, July 4th at 6:58 p.m.:
While troopers are still investigating the cause, a spokesman with the Highway Patrol told KRCG 13 he knows of one possibility.
"Well, I know they've got several docks there with slides they go down and pumps that pump water onto the slides,” Sgt. Paul Reinsch said. “That could be a possibility."
Reinsch said adults who jumped into the water to rescue the children reported feeling a strange sensation.
Update: Wednesday, July 4th at 4:25 p.m.:
The Highway Patrol has released the names of the children who were killed while swimming in the Lake of the Ozarks.
13-year-old Alexandra Anderson and her 8-year-old brother Brayden were killed when they were shocked by an unknown source of electricity. The Ashland kids were swimming near a private dock near the 6.5 mile marker in the Gravois Arm.
"They were swimming out in the water at a private dock as they had probably done many times before, and at some point in time they both received a shock,” Sgt. Paul Reinsch with the Highway Patrol said.
Adults tried to revive the children, but they were pronounced dead Wednesday afternoon at Lake Regional Hospital.
Original Story:
Two children from Ashland are dead on this Independence Day after an incident at the Lake of the Ozarks.
At about 12:05 p.m., a girl, 13, and her brother, 8, were swimming near the 6.5 mile marker in the Gravois Arm of the lake when they were electrocuted. Investigators with the Highway Patrol are still trying to figure out the source of the electricity.
Several adults at the scene were able to get the children out of the water and perform CPR until medical personnel arrived.
Crews took them to Lake Regional Hospital were doctors pronounced them dead.
The Highway Patrol continues to investigate their deaths.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKRCG