By Lucky Kidd
GREAT BEND, Kan. — One person is dead and another seriously injured after a bucket on an aerial boom came in contact with high-voltage power lines at Great Bend Municipal Airport Tuesday morning.
The Barton County Sheriff’s office, which is in charge of the investigation at the request of the Great Bend Police Department, said emergency personnel were dispatched to the airport west of Great Bend about 8:15 AM on a report of an accidental electrocution.
A roofing company was working on the main hangar near the terminal building, and two men were in an aerial bucket when it came in contact with the lines.
One person in the bucket was able to get to the roof and back on the ground. That person, 24-year-old Allistar Jose Sanchez of Wichita, received serious burns and was flown to Wichita after initial treatment at KU Med-Great Bend.
The other person, identified as 16-year-old Ivan Joel Mollins of Wichita, was removed from the bucket by rescue crews and taken to KU Med where he was pronounced dead.
Great Bend Fire and EMS and Midwest Energy also responded to the scene.
