Posts tagged Electrocution at Switched

Posts with tag electrocution

Man Killed By Plugged-In Cell Phone

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 28th 2008 at 4:48PM

We've seen deaths at the hands of cell phones take many different forms -- explosions, drownings, car accidents, even one kid who got hit by a train. One we haven't seen yet though? Electrocution. It seems a young man in Ghana picked up his cell phone to answer it while it was being charged. Shortly afterwards electricity zipped through his body and threw him to the floor with burns on his fingers from where the surge entered his body via the cell phone. His parents came in and rushed him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Some have responded to the story by warning others to never answer their phone while it's being charged. But the more likely culprit here is either a cheaply (and improperly) made knock-off cell phone or shoddy home wiring. Remember, this happened in Ghana, a poor West African nation that still relies heavily on international financial and technological assistance.

So if you live in New York, you can probably answer your phone while its charging consequence-free. If you're an inhabitant of sub-Sahara Africa, maybe you'll pull the plug first.

From Textually.org

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Sweaty Man Electrocuted By PC - and Other Gadget-Related Deaths

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Aug 4th 2007 at 2:03PM

Seems tech has a contract out for geeks.

Let this be a warning to all of you: Don't touch the inside of your PC when you are wet. According to Shanghai Daily, a young man, simply identified as "Wu," was shocked to death by his PC.

Wu took the case off the outside of his PC to prevent it from overheating. For some unexplained reason, he was not running the air conditioner in his home, so he wasn't wearing that much clothing. At some point, his sweaty leg came in contact with his PC's innards and Wu was dealt the deadly jolt -- 380 volts right from his PC's power supply.

Let's not forget that gadgets are electric, after all, and these kinds of deaths can happen just like that, so follow the precautions you'd take with any other electricity-powered device (like don't touch it if you're wet!).

But electrocution is not the only hazard that can come with a gadget. Take a look at some of the other tech-related deaths we have covered in the past few months (surprisingly, there are a lot more than just these).

We hope each of the following examples will serve as some kind of warning for you:

Cell Phone Battery Explodes, Kills Worker: This one happened in China, where a factory worker's cell phone in his chest pocket exploded, sending shards into his chest.
Kid Drowns in Lake After Cell Phone Sinks: This poor kid went diving after his cell phone in a lake. He never came back up.
Man Drowns After Phone Drops in Sewer: This one isn't good for the claustrophobes: This Michigan man went after his dropped cell phone in a sewer, got stuck face-down, and drowned with his feet sticking up street level.

From Engadget via Shanghai Daily

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