“In a country already obsessed — for good or ill — with Apple products, the news of Ma Ailun’s death spread rapidly,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt writes for Fortune. “Four days later, the details of [Southern Airlines flight attendant] Ma Ailun’s death at age 23 are still murky. Police in Xinjiang, the province in northwestern China where the incident took place, confirmed to local reporters that she was electrocuted, although they could not identify the source of the current that killed her.”
“Ms. Ma’s iPhone 5, according to her family, was purchased in December and was still under warranty. The family told @Stewardess network that she had left a bath to answer a call,” P.E.D. writes. “According to Ma Ailun’s family, she was using genuine Apple parts. The device and its charger were reportedly handed over to the police.”
P.E.D. writes, “Apple PR, having learned the hard way that its usual code of silence doesn’t fly in China, broke tradition and issued a response to the South China Morning Post: ‘We are deeply saddened to learn of this tragic incident and offer our condolences to the … family. We will fully investigate and co-operate with authorities in this matter.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “She had left a bath to answer a call?” We’d start the investigation right there.
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Apple to probe electric shock death of Chinese woman who used iPhone 5 while it was charging – July 15, 2013