iPhone 5 Death by Electrocution has Apple Investigating in China, PHOTO
Apple Inc. will investigate claims that a Chinese woman was killed by an electric shock she received when answering a call on her iPhone 5 while the device was charging, the company announced Monday.
A woman in the western region of Xinjiang tweeted about the death of her 23-year-old sister Ma Ailun on China's microblog service Sina Weibo. Ailun, a flight attendant with China Southern Airlines, collapsed and died on July 11, the official Xinhua news agency quoted police as saying on Sunday. She was rushed to hospital but New York Daily News reported that doctors could not save her life.
After the woman who alleged to be her sister wrote on the social media website about Ailun's death, and warned others about using the iPhone 5, the message went viral on the site and the claims caught Apple's attention.
Local police confirmed Ailun died of electrocution but have yet to verify if her phone was involved, CNN reported. Despite the unconfirmed claims, Apple's Beijing-based spokesperson, Carolyn Wu, offered condolences to the family and said in an e-mail cited by Reuters that the company "will fully investigate and cooperate with authorities in this matter."
"(I) hope that Apple Inc. can give us an explanation. I also hope that all of you will refrain from using your mobile devices while charging," a person identified as Ailun's sister reportedly posted on Weibo, China's Twitter-like service.
Weibo users responded with concern about the potential danger the phone offers, but also questioned if the claim was real.
Ailun's brother Yuelun told Apple Daily he believed his sibling was electrocuted while using her iPhone 5.
Apple Inc released the iPhone 5 in China on Dec. 14. More than 2 million of the devices were sold in the country in the three days following the product's launch.
