Technology is amazing when it works without a problem. But there inherent dangers that we often aren’t aware of, which can lead to injury or worse. Seemingly harmless actions like charging your phone might cause your phone to explode or even lead to death. Unfortunately, a freak accident led to a girl dying of electrocution by cell phone charging.
Indonesian girl dies from electrocution by cell phone
Source: Flickr
6-year-old Salsabila Ayu Putri was playing with a mobile phone that was charging during a thunderstorm on December 12th 2018 around 4pm in Sanja village in Bogor regency, West Java. According to Bogor Police Adjunct Commissioner Ita Puspita, lightning struck the house and killed the child who was holding the phone.
“It was raining and lightning struck the house,” Ms Ita explained.
The police commissioner goes on to share that the child’s 30-year-old mother, Ms Widiya, unplugged the phone charger shortly after the lightning struck. Doing so caused Ms Widiya to receive an electric shock to her hand.
“When (Ms Widiya) unplugged the cellphone (charging) cable, she said an electrical current shocked her hand,” said Ms Ita.
However, by the time Ms Widiya realised, she saw her daughter lying on the floor with her right cheek on the phone.
“When Ms Widiya lifted her daughter, she saw that Salsabila’s right cheek was blistered and her chest blackened,” Ms Ita elaborated.
Safe habits to follow to avoid the same risk
Source: Pexels
Technology has come a long way and is generally safe, except the odd exception such as the infamous Galaxy Note 7. However, as consumers who are on-the-go, we often neglect to monitor our phone use. This can lead to bizarre injuries such as being electrocuted by cell phone, or your phone exploding while charging overnight because you didn’t pay attention to mobile phone safety precautions!
Thankfully, we can mitigate these risks of electrocution by cell phone by adhering to a few tips of safe charging habits you and your family can follow:
- Stop using the phone while charging. Most phones nowadays have quick charging features so you’ll be able to use the phone sooner, so be patient.
- Charge often. You don’t have to charge the phone overnight, so don’t worry about charging the phone when it’s at 75%. It’s actually better than depleting it’s battery.
- Don’t leave your charging phone on the bed or near any heat source. Overheating not only depletes a battery’s life, but in a rare occurrence, it could cause an explosion.
- Don’t use any charging cables with exposed wiring or damaged charging heads. Buy a new one, as long as it is original or comes with the Safety Mark printed on its packaging or on the product itself.
Sources: Strait Times
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