A 16-year-old girl in Italy died after a phone she was using in the bath fell into the water while it was charging.
The teenager, Maria Antonietta Cutillo, was at her parents’ home in Avellino. Reports say she was in the bathtub holding her phone during a call with a friend. The device was reportedly plugged in to charge.
It is believed the phone slipped from her hand and dropped into the bath. The fall is thought to have caused a short circuit, leading to a fatal electric shock. Local reports say Cutillo’s family were not at home at the time.
Her friend grew worried when their call suddenly cut off. The friend then contacted emergency services to the home.
Cutillo’s body was taken to the morgue at Moscati Hospital in Avellino for an autopsy. Local police also investigated what happened. Reports say her father is well known in the Irpinia region and owns a butcher’s shop.
The friend she was speaking to shared a tribute on TikTok. She said she could still hear Cutillo screaming her name during the video call. She also wrote that the empty desk next to her at school would be a painful reminder.
Electrocution involving phones is rare, but similar incidents have been reported elsewhere. The Mirror reported that 27-year-old Wanchai Deengam in Thailand died in 2023 after falling asleep with his phone charging. Police believed a short circuit may have caused the shock, and he was said to be using the wrong adaptor. Another case reported by the Daily Mail said a schoolgirl in France died in 2020 when a charging phone fell onto her chest in the bath and slipped into the water.