Air hostess electrocuted using on-charge iPhone 5

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is investigating reports that a Chinese flight attendant was electrocuted while using her iPhone 5.

Ma Ailun from China’s Xinjiang region, a young bride-to-be, died from an electric shock after she answered her iPhone 5 while it was charging, according to her family. Ma  was dead on arrival at hospital in northwest China, it has been reported.

Newswire Reuters has further reported that Apple Inc. has launched an investigation into the 23-year-old woman’s death, and has said that it will fully cooperate with the Chinese authorities in their investigation.

According to media reports, Apple Inc. has issued the following statement: “We are deeply saddened to learn of this tragic incident and offer our condolences to the Ma family.

“We will fully investigate and cooperate with authorities in this matter.”

The 23-year-old was due to wed next month. Her family in Xinjiang have handed her iPhone 5 and accessories to police.

Chinese news agency Xinhua confirmed that Ma, who was due to be married next month, was electrocuted but have yet to confirm if her phone was the cause of the accident.

According to Ma’s sister, she bought the iPhone in December at an official Apple store and was using the original charger to recharge the phone when the tragedy occurred.

However, it is unlikely that a surge through a mobile phone battery or its charger could have led to electrocution as mobile phones have a low output of only 3 to 5 volts, which is not enough to harm the human body.

For a human being to experience an electric shock, the output needs to be about 36 volts.

“However, if the charger or the circuit has a problem, such as a broken wire, it can lead to a shock of 220 volts,” a senior physics teacher at a Nanjing high school was quoted as saying.

While there have been earlier reports of mobile phones catching fire and even exploding while charging, this is perhaps the first time that a case of death by electrocution while talking on a mibile phone has come to light.

Emirates 24|7 reported earlier this month that a Samsung Galaxy S4 caught fire in the UAE while its user had kept it for charging overnight. Read: Samsung Galaxy S4 catches fire while charging.

However, in that case, there was no harm caused to the user or her family as the user spotted the self-combustion before it could cause any damage.

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