A charging iPhone 4S is said to have electrocuted a man in Thailand, resulting in the 28-year-old’s death.
With a knock-off third-party charger reportedly responsible for the incident, the claimed death is the latest in a recent flurry of iPhone involving accidents within Asia, highlighting a serious issue with unlicensed and untested peripherals.
The victim was reportedly found lying on his iPhone 4S while it was connected to the mains via the dodgy plug. According to reports in the Daily News Thailand, he suffered severe burns to his chest and was found with the phone in his left hand.
An image of the handset has been released, with the Apple phone shown sporting severe burn marks and damage from the electrical heat.
Far from the first reported case of an iPhone electrocuting its owner whilst connected to a power supply with a knockoff charger, back in July, 23-year-old Chinese flight attendant Ma Aliun was killed when her charging iPhone 5 electrocuted her.
Responding to the incident at the time, an Apple spokesperson stated: “We are deeply saddened to learn of this tragic incident and offer our condolences to the Ma family.”
They added: “We will fully investigate and cooperate with authorities in this matter.”
There have been repeated calls for closer policing on the manufacturing and selling of potentially dangerous, knock off electrical add-ons in Asia seemingly to little avail.
Apple is not the only company to suffer from combusting handset, however. Earlier this year, a Samsung Galaxy S4 is said to have caused a fire in Duabi after it ignited whilst charging.
“I cannot explain to you my extreme frustration, disappointment and extreme fear when I found my brand new Samsung Galaxy S4 burning at the charger connection to the phone,” S4 owner Sarah Shurrub said in a complaint to Samsung following the alleged incident.
She added: “The phone was found burning, while charging. It’s only thanks to God that I woke up in the middle of the night and controlled the burning before it could cause damage to my home and family.”
Read More: iPhone 5S review
Via: AppleInsider
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
