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Brazil: 3 electrocuted when Carnival float hits power line on Rio’s outskirts

Performers from the Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school parade on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. AP Photo/Felipe Dana

RIO DE JANEIRO – Three Brazilian revelers were electrocuted early Tuesday while standing atop a Carnival float that hit a power line, officials said.

In an emailed statement, the Light power company confirmed the deaths that happened during a Carnival celebration in Nova Iguacu, a hardscrabble city of 800,000 people on the northern outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

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Firefighters said at least one other person was taken to a hospital and three others were aided on the scene. None appear to have life-threatening injuries. Police are investigating the incident.

READ MORE: At least 20 killed in power line accident on Haiti Carnival float

A similar accident took place early Tuesday in Haiti, where a Carnival float hit an electric line and shocked a man atop the vehicle, setting off a panicked stampede that apparently killed at least 20 people.

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During Brazil’s 2011 Carnival, 16 people were killed at a packed street party in Minas Gerais state when a power line fell atop the crowd.

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