Man Dies After Being Electrocuted While Hanging Christmas Lights In San Diego County

ESCONDIDO, CA — A San Diego County man died after being electrocuted while hanging Christmas lights, authorities said.

Antonio Pascual, 24, of Escondido was hanging lights on the roof near a high-voltage power line shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday at a home on Skyline Drive in Escondido, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.

"The decedent threw the lights over the power line resulting in electrocution," the Medical Examiner's Office said in a news release. "Paramedics arrived on scene to find the decedent hanging upside down from a tree."

He was taken to Palomar Medical Center Escondido, where he died "despite aggressive resuscitative efforts," the Medical Examiner's Office said.

A GoFundMe page set up to raise funds to support his family described Pascual as a brother, son and uncle "who had so much to live."

"He always took care of his mother and family," according to the page, which was set up by organizer Juan Pascual, his brother.

By Monday morning, the page had raised more than $7,000.

"He had been working on putting up Christmas lights around the tree. Something that we always did for our client," the page reads. "It always came out beautiful."

After he fell, Pascual was trapped in the tree for an hour, according to the page.

"Rescue team was forced to wait until the power company had to turn off power," the page reads. "Too late to save, forever young he will remain. Christmas lights forever having a meaning to us, he will remain in our hearts for eternity."