A British man was electrocuted after attempting to charge his iPhone while he was using it in the bath, reports the Daily Mail. The investigator for the case says that he will be writing a letter to Apple about the case.
The man, Richard Bull, ran an extension cord from a plug socket outside his bathroom, and placed the charger on his chest while using the phone.
PC Craig Pattison told the inquest at West London Coroner’s Court how he found the extension lead running from the hallway outside into the bathroom.’
‘We found an iPhone plugged into the extension cable and then the charger element in the bath,’ he explained. ‘The extension cable was on the floor and it appeared as though he had his phone charger on his chest and the part between the phone charger and the cable had made contact with the water.’
The investigator says that Apple should warn users about the danger, and will be writing a report that will be sent to Apple.
At an inquest into his death the coroner issued a warning about using the ‘innocuous devices’ which can be ‘as dangerous as a hairdryer in a bathroom.’ Recording a verdict of accidental death, Dr Sean Cummings said: ‘These seem like innocuous devices but can be as dangerous as a hairdryer in a bathroom. ‘They should attach warnings. I intend to write a report later to the makers of the phone.’
In this specific case, putting the charger in a position where it’s likely to come in contact with water was the cause of the electrocution, regardless if it was a first-party charger or not. Let this be a lesson, don’t charge your phone while near water.
