15-year-old girl dies after being electrocuted by power cable and decapitated by electric shock: reports
According to local authorities, 15-year-old Débora Rebeca Xi Artola died after accidentally coming into contact with the cables
Yane Valdes/GoFundMe
Débora Rebeca Xi Artola, who died in a power line accident in Guatemala in August 2024
A Guatemalan teenager died when she accidentally came into contact with high-voltage cables and was subsequently decapitated by the current, according to several reports.
Fifteen-year-old Débora Rebeca Xi Artola was on top of a building in the El Centro neighborhood of Alta Verapaz when she tragically died, according to a Spanish-language press release from the local fire department.
The teenager apparently did not notice the wires around her and was electrocuted when she accidentally touched them, fire officials said.
Neighbors claimed a group of teenagers were practicing dance steps on the roof when Débora slipped and got caught in the cables, a Spanish-language newspaper reported. The Herald.
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A clip of the incident viewed by PEOPLE appeared to show the teenagers on the roof just before Artola fell onto the power line.
The high-voltage cables caused electricity to flow through Débora’s body, leading to her beheading, The Herald and Television Azteca.
According to the fire department, Débora’s death was confirmed at the scene of the accident. She fell about six meters.
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Andrea Xi, Débora’s mother, honored her daughter with several emotional posts on Facebook, including one with a picture of the deceased teenager at her quinceañera in March, according to The New York Post.
“I love you forever. My princess,” she wrote in one, adding in another that her daughter was her “first and great love.”
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Erik Artola, a relative of Débora, also paid tribute to the teenager with a special TikTok video with clips from the young lady’s life. “You are in heaven, but you deserve to be here longer,” he wrote above the pictures.
A GoFundMe campaign was launched to support Débora’s family after the tragedy.
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