A Filipino nurse in Australia was found dead in her home due to an apparent electrocution from faulty USB charger.
Authorities have identified the woman as Sheryl Anne Aldeguer of North Gosford, a 28-year-old mom of two from the Philippines who moved to Australia to work as theater nurse.
Aldeguer was found dead on her bed with burns to her chest from a laptop and burns to her ears from her headphones about 4pm on April 23.
Investigators said that the $4.99 charger triggered the electrocution.
“The phone was also plugged into a USB-style charger. That charger had failed,” Lynelle Collins from the New South Wales Department of Fair Trading told AFP. “Somehow power from that charger has connected to her body. Whether she had it (the phone) to her ear or was holding it in her hand, we don’t know.”
Luigi Aldeguer told online news The Daily Telegraph that his wife was speaking to a friend who was in Dubai when the incident happened.
The incident prompted the authorities to confiscate a large stocks of phone chargers, power boards and travel adaptors, which were found not to meet Australian safety requirements.
“It’s a wake-up call to people who buy cheap electronic products without realising potential hazards,’ said NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe. ‘If the deal’s too good to be true, it usually is and it can prove fatal.” – Source here.