A map of the location of Elm Farms in Okawville, Ill., where the incident occurred.
Updated 10:18 a.m. March 7, 2011 with services details (see below)
Some sad news out of Okawville, Ill. today as KMOV reports about an incident that killed two young men.
So, what happened?
KMOV says witnesses told the Washington County Sheriff's Department that Nicholas Bledsoe, 19 and Justin Eldridge, 18, were working at Elm Farms last night when they saw a raccoon run inside a 30 foot irrigation pipe.
The television station reports that the teens tried to free the raccoon by picking up the pipe, and that the pipe came in contact with an overhead power line and electrocuted both young men.
Bledsoe and Eldridge were transported to a local hospital where they were pronounced dead, KMOV says.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Bledsoe and Eldridge were both seniors at Okawville Junior-Senior High School, where Bledsoe was senior class president and Eldridge was part of the school's bass fishing team and trap shooting team, and wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement.
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Services Details (via the Associated Press):
- Visitation for 19-year-old Nick Bledsoe and 18-year-old Justin Eldridge was scheduled from 3 to 8 p.m. Monday (March 7) in Okawville Junior-Senior High School's gymnasium, where services for both were planned for 9 a.m. Tuesday (March 8). Burial was to be in separate cemeteries.