Fallen Wire Kills Woman in Van Nuys

A 69-year-old Van Nuys woman was electrocuted outside her home Sunday while trying to remove a power line that had fallen on her car, authorities said.

The woman, Zart Mgrdichian, was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:08 a.m., Los Angeles County Coroner’s Lt. Nils Linder said.

Mgrdichian and her relatives apparently heard a loud bang outside the woman’s home in the 13400 block of Victory Boulevard and then saw the wire across her car, Los Angeles Police Sgt. G. Tam said.

“The wire had fallen and it was sparking over her car,” Linder said. “She decided to grab the wire, afraid it would burn her car, while she was standing on a wet lawn.”

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power cut off service on five circuits, which resulted in a loss of electrical power to 4,200 customers for 50 minutes, DWP spokeswoman Dorothy Jensen said. She said the department was investigating what caused the line to fall.