A father and son have died and another father and son have suffered serious injuries trying to rescue them when a windmill they were installing struck overhead power lines in country Victoria in Australia.
The man, aged in his 60s, and his son, aged in his 40s, were moving a 7.6metre metal windmill which came into contact with a 12,700-volt power line.
The incident occurred on a farm near Rainbow in Victoria's remote northwest Mallee region.
The dead men were locals.
The other father, aged 60, and his son, in his 30s, suffered serious burns to their hands and feet trying to rescue the men, Ambulance Victoria paramedic Jason Hunter says.
They walked some distance to a road to raise the alarm and were flown to hospital in Melbourne.
"They've sustained an exit wound: where the electricity passes through the body and it causes quite a large burn area, usually to the feet, and both these males sustained quite serious exit wounds to the lower limbs," Hunter says.
"It was 12,700 volts. I am very surprised both these males haven't ended up as fatalities as a result of this incident.
"They were stable and conscious on the flight but I am sure they will be in hospital for quite some time yet.
"On a visual aspect, it's a small percentage of burns, but sometimes with burns patients it can be internal and the injuries don't surface or become apparent until hours or days down the track."
A third man - the property owner - also sustained an electric shock but his injuries were minor and he was taken to a local hospital.
WorkSafe Victoria's Acting Executive Director for Health and Safety Stan Krpan says that since 2000 there had been eight workplace deaths in Victoria caused by a vehicle or equipment coming into contact with overhead powerlines.
Last November, a man died in Dandenong, in Melbourne's south, after a hydraulic tipping trailer struck an overhead line.
"This is a tragic reminder that people working near overhead lines need to be aware of the proximity of their vehicle or equipment to the lines - especially if working on a property they're not familiar with," Krpan says.
There have been 10 workplace deaths so far this year with the latest fatality last Thursday when a man died from a carbon dioxide leak in a hotel cellar at Birregurra, in the state's southwest.
