Buzz
Our smartphones have become indispensable. They serve as our GPS, gaming platform, social connection tool, and sometimes a backup means of communication. Many of us would feel a wave of panic if we accidentally leave home without them.
It’s hard to imagine that something we depend on so much could one day be the cause of our demise. Surprisingly, more people now lose their lives to selfie-related accidents than to shark attacks! Below are 10 of the most shocking deaths caused by people’s beloved gadgets.
10. Man Plunges Off a Cliff While Using His Phone
We’ve all been guilty of texting while walking—whether it’s in our house, at a store, or even at the mall. It’s common to look down at our phone and accidentally bump into something or someone, but most of the time, we can manage to pay attention to our surroundings. Unfortunately for Joshua Burwell, he didn’t notice his surroundings quickly enough.
On Christmas Day 2015, Burwell visited San Diego’s beautiful Sunset Cliffs, a favorite spot for both tourists and locals to catch a glimpse of the sunset. Many people come here, hoping to snap the perfect Instagram photo to rack up likes. Burwell was no different, but he became so focused on his phone that he failed to notice he had already passed the designated safe area of the cliff. He kept walking, unaware that he had reached the edge, and fell 18 meters (60 feet). Nearby, people heard his cries for help, and a group bravely descended the cliffside to rescue him. Tragically, he died at the scene.
Witnesses recalled seeing Burwell walk toward the cliff, his gaze fixed on his phone, before suddenly falling over the edge. Lifeguard Bill Bender remarked, '[He] wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking; his eyes were glued to the device in his hands.'
9. A Man Dies After Using His Phone’s Tracking Feature
Like many, you’ve probably misplaced your phone at home, and it always seems to happen when it's set to silent or vibrate mode. For those of us prone to losing our phones, tracking apps have been a game-changer.
But for some, it can turn into a nightmare. In February 2016, a 23-year-old man from Birmingham, Alabama, had his iPhone stolen. After remembering the phone’s tracking app, he located it and saw it was active at a specific address. Feeling confident, he drove to the location, a suburban Baptist church parking lot, where he used the app to make the phone ring. Hearing the sound inside a car, he approached it to retrieve his phone. Unfortunately, as he did so, a man shot and killed him. The young man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police Chief Leon Davis shared his perspective on the situation:
If you have an app on your phone, reach out to your local law enforcement. Allow the authorities to handle the situation and recover your stolen items. Don’t take matters into your own hands—these situations rarely end well.
8. Driver Causes Fatal Crash While Texting Behind the Wheel
Many of us believe we're skilled enough drivers to glance away from the road for a brief moment to send a text. However, the sobering fact is that one in four car accidents today is caused by texting and driving. Think about it: If you're driving at 90 kilometers per hour (55 mph), you cover the length of a football field in the time it takes to send a text. In that short distance, anything can happen; road safety is never guaranteed.
On the morning of August 5, 2010, a 19-year-old man from Missouri was driving to work, just like any other day. However, he collided with the rear of a semi-truck, which led to a chain reaction: a school bus behind him crashed into his pickup truck, and another bus crashed into the first. The driver of the pickup and a 15-year-old student tragically died on the spot, while 38 others were severely injured. Federal investigators later discovered that the driver's phone records showed he had sent five text messages at the time of the fatal collision.
At a gathering to investigate the cause of the crash, National Transportation Safety Chairman Deborah Hersman remarked:
It’s not possible to determine from phone records whether the driver was texting, reaching for the phone, or reading a message when the crash occurred, but it's evident that he was distracted in multiple ways—manually, cognitively, and visually. Driving was clearly not his top priority. No message, no call, no update is worth a human life.
7. Woman Dies from Electrocution After Using Her Phone
For many of us, picking up and answering the phone is as second nature as breathing, and we often perceive it as one of the safest, most routine actions we can take. But in 2013, 23-year-old Ma Ailun from China likely thought the same—until the unthinkable happened.
Ailun’s sister, who witnessed the tragic incident, shared with investigators that Ailun had plugged her iPhone into the charger, likely something she had done countless times before. When the phone rang, Ailun reached for it while it was still attached to the charger. Tragically, she was electrocuted, collapsing to the floor and passing away before medical assistance could arrive.
Apple representatives refrained from providing specifics about whether this was a unique occurrence, but they expressed their condolences and quickly initiated an investigation into the peculiar death. All signs indicated that Ailun had only used an official Apple charger, dismissing the possibility that a third-party charger caused her death. No further updates from the investigation have been released by Apple so far.
6. Woman Stares at Her Phone While Crossing the Street
It cannot be emphasized enough how crucial it is to remain vigilant of your surroundings when using your phone in public, particularly as a pedestrian in traffic. While it may seem unnecessary to mention the risks you face, we encounter people absorbed in their phones every day. They often fail to realize just how close they are to becoming victims of tragic accidents.
In 2015, a woman in Zhongshan, Guangdong, China, was crossing the street in a routine manner, almost on autopilot—without paying full attention to the traffic. She crossed one lane, but as she entered the opposite lane, she was struck by a large truck, sending her back into the first lane. She had little time to recover before another truck, unable to react in time, hit her and tragically killed her on impact.
It likely wouldn’t have made much of a difference even if she’d had the time to stand up. China has one of the highest rates of fatal accidents involving pedestrians, largely due to a law that forces those responsible for injuring someone to cover their medical expenses for the rest of their life. Injuring a pedestrian could cost millions in the long run. In China, a common saying goes, "It’s better to kill than to injure," referring to the idea that death is cheaper than lifelong care for an injured victim.
As a result of this, there have been numerous cases in China of people deliberately running over pedestrians multiple times to make sure they die. Some victims have been as young as five years old. It’s much cheaper to pay for a burial than to face lifelong financial obligations. To make matters worse, most people who kill others with their vehicles often receive light sentences or avoid any significant punishment altogether.
The woman who was on her phone tragically lost her life in a traffic incident involving a commercial vehicle. Unfortunately, due to the current legal framework, her family will receive little to no compensation, and neither the truck driver nor the company he worked for will face any serious legal repercussions.
5. Man Crawls Into a Trash Compactor to Retrieve His Dropped Phone
Few moments are more agonizing than the instant when your phone falls onto a hard surface or into something that could cause it harm. Many will go to extreme lengths, doing things they normally wouldn’t even consider, just to get their phone back. Stories of people fishing their phones out of toilets are common online, showing that social norms are thrown out the window when a phone is at stake.
An unsettling incident took place in Illinois in 2013. Roger Mirro told one of his neighbors that he had accidentally dropped his phone down the building’s trash chute. He was seeking the key to the trash room, which he eventually obtained, hoping to retrieve his phone from the trash compactor. After not hearing from her husband for three hours, Mirro’s wife reported him as missing to the authorities.
After speaking with residents of the apartment complex, investigators went to the trash room and discovered that the lock had been removed from the door. Inside, they found a ladder leading up to the trash compactor. Tragically, they found Mirro’s crushed, lifeless body inside the compactor.
4. Woman Dashes Into a Life-Threatening Fire to Save Her Phone
There are few things that would drive most people to re-enter a house fire from which they’d just narrowly escaped. The list of possible motivations would likely include friends, family, or pets. But for most, a smartphone would not be one of them.
Wendy Rybolt, from Bartonville, Illinois, found herself in the tragic situation of having her home catch fire while she and her teenage daughter were inside. Fortunately, they both managed to escape unharmed as the flames ravaged everything around them. However, Rybolt realized she had left her phone inside the burning house, so she ran back in to retrieve it. Unfortunately, she couldn’t escape the fire a second time.
A police officer who responded to the scene attempted to rescue her, but the thick smoke prevented him from going far into the house, and he had to be hospitalized for smoke inhalation. When firefighters arrived, they also tried to save her, but by then the flames had become too intense, forcing them to retreat until the fire was brought under control. An autopsy later revealed that Rybolt died from severe smoke inhalation.
Chief Brian Fengel of the Bartonville Police Department commented:
Material possessions can be replaced. You should never go back inside to retrieve anything. In this case, there was dense smoke. Carbon monoxide can silently take you, and you might not even realize it.
3. Woman’s Three Children Drown While She Plays On Her Phone
One of the most fundamental needs children have is for protection, a parent to be there when they are in immediate danger. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the reality, as neglectful parents can be found all over the world.
In 2015, in Irving, Texas, Patricia Allen took three of her five children (aged 9, 10, and 11) to the apartment complex swimming pool. It was reported that both she and her husband were aware that the children couldn’t swim, but her husband reassured her that they were capable enough to be in the pool. Tragically, all three children drowned. Witnesses reported that Allen was near the pool but focused on her phone the entire time. She only began to panic when she realized her children were missing.
Officer James McClellan from the Irving Police Department shared the witnesses’ account with reporters: “They approached the pool and saw the mother sitting at the edge of the pool, gazing toward the deeper section of the pool. They also noticed that the water was calm, still, and devoid of any splashing, flapping, or bubbles. At that point, the mother stood up.”
Had their mother not been so absorbed in her smartphone, the children might very well still be alive today.
2. Man’s Phone Explodes
We take great care to protect our phones. We purchase cases, screen protectors, and a variety of accessories to keep our devices safe from harm. The smartphone accessory industry was expected to generate over $38 billion in revenue in 2017. We go to great lengths to prevent any damage to our smartphones. But is it possible that we also need protection from our smartphones themselves?
In 2010, Gopal Gujjar from India was herding his cattle in his field while talking on his Nokia mobile phone, just as he had done many times before. Suddenly, the phone exploded while he was holding it to his ear, killing him. Investigators found Gujjar lying in the field with pieces of his phone scattered around his body, along with severe burns and injuries to his ear, head, neck, and shoulders. Nokia had previously faced issues with counterfeit batteries causing phones to explode.
Sadly, there have been other deaths attributed to exploding phones. Such incidents have been reported in countries like China and Nepal. Representatives from the involved phone companies stated that they were investigating these strange deaths and conducting extensive research to prevent further tragedies.
1. Girl Electrocuted In Search Of The Ultimate Selfie
Who could have predicted that something as simple as adding a front-facing camera to smartphones would grow into such a global phenomenon? Everywhere you go, you’ll see people snapping selfies, and it’s impossible to scroll through social media without coming across them. In fact, selfies account for a large portion of the photos stored on most people’s phones.
The rise of selfies has led to what’s known as 'selfie culture,' a world where it seems like everyone is racing to outdo each other by posting the perfect or most extreme selfie. People often seek out the highest peaks or the most picturesque settings just to get that ideal shot. In 2014, there was even a 'Selfie Olympics' event, where participants competed to take the wildest and most outrageous selfies. Unfortunately, the obsession with capturing the perfect selfie can sometimes have tragic consequences.
Anna Ursu, an 18-year-old from Bucharest, Romania, became a tragic example of the dangers of selfie culture. In May 2015, like many others, Ursu was engrossed in trying to snap the perfect selfie with her phone’s front-facing camera. She and a friend decided to head to a train yard to take some photos, and one of them suggested climbing atop a train car for a better shot. But things went horribly wrong when Ursu reached for a live electrical wire while trying to capture the perfect selfie. The shock was so intense that it set her on fire.
Ursu was rushed to Bucharest Burns Hospital, desperately hoping for her survival, but her injuries were too severe. Anisia Iliescu, a doctor at the hospital’s emergency department, explained that her condition was beyond saving. “Her entire body was burned,” said Iliescu, confirming that it was impossible to save Ursu due to the severity of her burns.
