A 16-year-old girl from Italy tragically lost her life after accidentally dropping her phone in the bathtub while on a call with a friend.
Maria Antonietta Cutillo was at her family home in Montefalcione, located in the province of Avellino, Italy, when the incident occurred, with her parents not present at the time.
According to the Daily Mail, Cutillo was speaking with her friend while sitting in the bath.
At some point, she accidentally dropped her phone—which was connected to a charger plugged into a nearby outlet—into the water, causing a short circuit that led to her tragic passing.
Emergency services were alerted after Cutillo’s friend grew concerned when their call abruptly disconnected. Tragically, responders arrived at her home to find that she had already passed away.
Her body was then transported to the morgue at Moscati Hospital in Avellino for an autopsy, which confirmed that electrocution was the cause of death.
Local authorities investigated the heartbreaking incident, which took place in May 2023.
According to the Daily Express, the friend Cutillo was speaking to shared an emotional tribute on TikTok after her passing:
“You flew to heaven my love, you left screaming my name during a video call. I will never ever forget that moment.
“The last call, the last laugh together, the last nonsense together was today my baby and while you were talking to me this happened.
“I have your voice echoing in my head as you screamed my name, I have the scene in front of my eyes, I have your big green eyes in front of me, I have your laugh in mind.
“You were a spectacular friend, now the school desk next to me will be empty and whoever gets in will never, ever be you.
“I miss you my heart, I have your image fixed in front of my eyes.”
While electrocution from a phone is rare, there have been other tragic incidents where people lost their lives due to a device short-circuiting.
As The Mirror reported, 27-year-old Wanchai Deengam from Thailand passed away in February after falling asleep with his phone charging.
According to the outlet, an extension plug was also powering a smartwatch, while two rice cookers and two fans were connected to the same wall socket.
Deengam’s older brother, Somkuan Changsarn, grew concerned when he was unable to reach him.
“I was suspicious because normally, he wasn’t a deep sleeper. I would always see him sitting in front of his room when I finish work,” Changsarn said.
He added: “He liked to use his phone just for chatting with friends on the Line application. He used TikTok a lot and Facebook to watch sports but he didn’t play games.
“We spoke before about using phones while they are charging because there were cases in the news about it happening. But everybody still does. I never thought this could happen or I would have warned my brother more.”
Tragically, Deengam was found lifeless, still holding his phone. His left arm was resting on his Samsung device.
Police Captain Jiratchaya Yordkum from the Rat Burana Metropolitan Police Station stated: “We found no traces of assault or ransacking. We suspect that a short circuit might have caused his electrocution.”
The officer further explained that the 27-year-old had plugged his device into the socket without using the proper adapter.