Lollapalooza concert-goers violently shocked by third rail’s 600 volts while taking selfie on train tracks
Shocking footage shows the moment three people headed to the Lollapalooza took a seat on the Chicago L train tracks to snap a selfie together — and were zapped by 600 volts of electricity when they touched the third rail.
The incident happened at the Ridgeland Green Line stop in Oak Park just after 7 p.m. August 5 as the group of friends were headed to the music festival.
Footage showed two males and a female sitting on the tracks and preparing to take a photo, when one of the males leaned back and suddenly went violently rigid after touching the electrified rail.
He then reached out and grabbed the female next to him, who went stiff in turn as the painful volts coursed through their bodies.
The three appeared to be traveling with a larger group of friends who were on the platform above them in the video.
The third person on the tracks could be seen staring in apparent horror as his friends writhed stiff-limbed beside him for a few moments, before springing into action and trying to pry them free.
At one point, he appeared to sustain a short shock himself and threw his hands in the air before several members of the group jumped down from the platform to help save their friends.
The male went into cardiac arrest and was rushed to Loyola Medical Center in critical condition, the Oak Park Fire Department said.
His female friend was reportedly conscious when emergency responders arrived, and was also hospitalized.
Their names and ages, and the extent of their injuries, remain unknown.
The human body is capable of surviving exposure to significant voltages — an average lightning bolt contains around 300 million volts, according to the National Weather Service — but typically contact with 50 volts of electricity is enough to kill a person.
