Girl suffers severe electrical burns after climbing pylon ‘for online challenge’

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A 12-year-old girl was hospitalised with severe electrical burns after climbing a pylon in Spain, reportedly to take pictures to post online.

The girl made her way up the tower in the town of Navahermosa, Toledo on Monday at around 6:45pm, suffering an electric shock before she was taken down by firefighters.

“A picture isn’t worth your life,” the local fire service said, after a report in Spanish outlet La Voz de Galicia suggested the girl was the latest young person to engage in a “dangerous and nearly impossible” challenge to post online.

The victim was rushed to La Paz Hospital in Madrid after Civil Guard, firefighters, two ambulances, a mobile ICU, and a medical helicopter arrived at the scene.

The Toledo Provincial Firefighting and Rescue Consortium said the pylon was “de-energised” before the girl was secured and lowered before being passed on to medical teams.

It said in a statement: “Intervention to rescue a person who had accessed an electrical tower, suffering an electric shock.

“Before starting the operation, the electrical risk is checked, confirming that the installation is de-energized and that there is no voltage.

“Afterward, the person is secured and lowered using an aerial ladder, and then placed in the care of the medical services.”

The service issued an call to young people not to engage in dangerous activities for the sake of a photo, urging them never to try and climb any electrical pylons or other installations.

“A picture isn’t worth your life,” it added. “Electrical installations can cause electric shocks or arcs without the need to directly touch a conductor.

“No photo, video, or post is worth taking this risk. Never access poles, towers, or electrical installations.”

Navahermosa is a rural village in the province of Toledo, which is in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain, just south and east of Madrid.