In the Haute-Loire department, a young man died electrocuted by his phone while taking a bath. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that such a tragedy has occurred, so much so that the government launched an alert on this subject in 2020.
The 25-year-old victim allegedly dropped his smartphone in water while it was charging.
A 25-year-old man was electrocuted in his bath
The terrible accident occurred this Sunday, February 5 in the town of Tence. The young man was found deceased in his bathtub in the morning. Rescuers failed to resuscitate him, and medical examiners quickly linked the facts to an accidental electrocution, reports Free lunch.
According to the first elements of the investigation, he would have dropped his phone in the water while it was charging. This triggered a shock, then a short circuit, electrocuting the victim who did not survive.
Not an isolated case, the authorities warn
The National Observatory for Electrical Safety (ONSE) lists 3,000 electrifications each year without fatal consequences and 40 deaths by electrocution linked to the use of a smartphone in the bathroom. ” The victims died from an electric shock. They were young and healthy “, reports the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) in a consumer alert published in 2020. In some cases, the victim charged his phone on the mains while he was in his bathtub while in others, ” they were plugging in their phone charger, with wet hands and/or feet in water “.
In order to avoid a new tragedy, the organization recommends to ” charge your devices outside of damp rooms “, of ” do not use any electrical device connected to the mains, including a waterproof and water-resistant telephone, in the bath or in the shower “, and of ” do not handle plugged-in electrical appliances with wet hands or feet, or with feet in water “.
Sources: Free lunch, DGCCRF
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