BRAZIL - Power line kills at least 16 in parade

Sao Paulo, Brazil (AP):

At least 16 persons were electrocuted when a power line fell atop a packed pre-Carnival street parade in rural Brazil, police reported yesterday.

Witnesses reported a high-voltage power line sparked and fell on the dancing crowd after it was hit by metallic streamers commonly tossed during Brazil's Carnival or by fireworks, police said, though the cause remained under investigation.

More feared dead

"We have at least 16 dead, among them teenagers," said a police spokesman in the town of Bandeira do Sul in Minas Gerais state, north of Rio de Janeiro, where the accident happened Sunday night. "Most were hit by the line but it's possible the current passed from person to person because the crowd was so dense."

At least 54 other persons were injured, some severely. Shortly after the accident, police said 17 persons died, but they reduced that figure after conferring yesterday with hospitals and morgues where victims were taken.

The partygoers were following a sound truck that was booming music when the accident happened in front of the town's main plaza. Such street parties are common across Brazil in the days before and during Carnival, which officially opens Friday.