AfterDawn: News

Chinese knockoff phone kills man in India

25-year-old Dhanji Damor of Gujarat, India has died this week, after his Chinese knockoff phone electrocuted him while making a call.

The phone was plugged into the wall while Damor tried to make a call.



His friends rushed him to the hospital, where he was declared dead from electric shock.

In 2010, a similar incident claimed the life of an Indian woman using a Chinese-made knockoff phone.

"Shanzhai" (Chinese imitation) mobile devices have become very popular in India due to their cheap prices, but the Indian government has tried to crack down as the devices usually lack IMEI numbers and have untested batteries that are considered hazardous.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2011 11:59

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• 26 comments

• snardos

  What kind of voltage and current do those chinese chargers produce. I know here in Canada, most chargers are 5V at 1Amp Max. Thats definitely not enough to kill you unless you had jumper wires running to your heart.

  17.6.2011 12:48 #1

• Jeffrey_P

  No way milliamp will kill you unless it's 5-10 + -Kv and > .1 amps or 1000 milliamps. It would have to be an ideal situation like a weak heart.
  Something else happened.
  The components alone will take up more space then any cell phone can handle.
  
  Something else happened. It's not the 2.4 GHz frequency either.
  Jeff
  

  Cars, Guitars & Radiation.

  17.6.2011 13:18 #2

• RyJess (unverified)

  This is shocking news!

  17.6.2011 13:21 #3

• Mrguss

  If you hold a low Voltage Cable for a long time.....yeah; any one can be electrocuted, it get to the point where you can't do anything at all..... Similar thing happen to me when I was a little kid....showing off that nothing can happen to me (but not holding a phone)...I get lucky.
  

  +4000

  17.6.2011 14:49 #4

• budro

  Very interesting... This is just more reason to, in the world of electronics at least, go with something trusted, even if it's a tad more expensive.
  
  Also
  
  Well, the voltage isn't what kills you from electrocution, it's the current.
  
  It only takes something like .07 amps (if I remember my basic physics correctly) to do damage. Anything higher than that is extremely dangerous.
  

  Knowledge is power, ignorance is weakness.
  Flash any hitachi
  
  

  17.6.2011 15:17 #5

• LordRuss

  I know pace makers & other electronic implants that use minute electrical impulses can be real touchy. Could be a complication with something there that wasn't included with this particular article.
  
  I also know that there's something to do with the AC current to DC current that will also promote death quicker & easier as well. However, it has nothing to do with the voltage or current applied by either.
  
  Low voltage at a given current will kill you. PERIOD. AC or DC is immaterial. The angle I'm coming from is the directional forces that AC & DC electricity follows & why medical appliances seem to build their equipment the way they do might have 'some' bearing.
  
  As a short example, take a defibrillator. The thing with 2 paddles, (CLEAR!!!) & jump start some poor bastard? That thing. It delivers a high voltage, mid current, DC electrical charge across your heart to restart it. The popular thought being, 'electrically', your heart operates in one order. DC only works in one direction (order), so the machine is designed to fire your heart back up accordingly.
  
  An AC device would theoretically fire back & forth. Or basically, turning your heart on & off and that simply won't do.
  
  So, how those poor folks got electrocuted is still a bit of wonder to me; unless they came in contact with another ungrounded device while using the phone.
  

  http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

  17.6.2011 15:22 #6

• Jeffrey_P

  Yes voltage just is there until current pushes the voltage like a ocean wave.
  I try explain to explain it in layman's terms. People are always afraid of the unknown.
  I have taught basic electronics to folks. It's only at that point when people at least come to terms with their worst fears.
  
  I've said this before on AD... I used to put 5-10KV (RAD instruments)on my tongue. It's was microamps which will not penetrate seven layers of skin.
  Oh well, kept me employed.
  Jeff

  17.6.2011 15:27 #7

• keebles

  was it a crapple iphoney?
  

  Playstation 2-Free McBoot,HDloader 8.0c,Open PS2 Loader 0.7,80gb Maxtor HDD,SMS Media Player,PGen,SNES Station- Installed
  GameCube-SDload,SD Card Adapter,BBA Adapter,2 Color Case,GnuboyGX,MPlayer- Installed

  17.6.2011 17:10 #8

• Jeffrey_P

  I like your new nic. It's still more than obvious you can't stop the smack down.
  Edit: Maybe it's not Hammerhead.
  That question I cannot answer since I don't own a game console.
  One thing is for sure, I will never own an Apple anything. I don't like Steven Blowjob trying to run the tech industry.
  Jeff
  

  Cars, Guitars & Radiation.

  17.6.2011 17:22 #9

• plutonash

  Originally posted by keebles: was it a crapple iphoney? No i think the head of the article clearly states knock off..meaning blackberry storm or something.
  
  Originally posted by Jeffrey_P: I like your new nic. It's still more than obvious you can't stop the smack down.
  Edit: Maybe it's not Hammerhead.
  That question I cannot answer since I don't own a game console.
  One thing is for sure, I will never own an Apple anything. I don't like Steven Blowjob trying to run the tech industry.
  Jeff Trying to run? he is running the tech industry for the most part. More specifically when it comes to handheld devices.
  

  "Cable thief is a victimless crime."

  17.6.2011 17:45 #10

• mike.m

  Originally posted by snardos: What kind of voltage and current do those chinese chargers produce. I know here in Canada, most chargers are 5V at 1Amp Max. Thats definitely not enough to kill you unless you had jumper wires running to your heart. It only takes 100mA to cause your heart to go into ventricular fibrillation (irregular heartbeat). 100mA to 200mA is enough to kill you. Believe it or not, it would be better to receive a current/shock of higher than 200mA, 200mA+ causes the heart to "clamp" up, and it would be easier to revive someone then instead of some with an irregular heartbeat.
  
  While you’re right, 5V isn't enough to break through the resistance of your skin, even when wet (unless the skin is broken) but 1 Amp of current can certainly kill you. Also the battery obviously was DC, which is more dangerous than AC (in some cases, AC can be more lethal). If you grab a bare wire that has Direct Current running through it, there's no chance of you letting go. At least with AC there's a chance to let go right away because of the 60Hz frequency, you'll be able to let go when the RMS (effective value) is at 0.
  
  Companies that release these phones are idiots and should be prosecuted. They are giving people ticking time bombs. How does a company like this even exist, if they’re not smart enough to double insulate their phones, and protect live wires?? Too many short cuts cause someone to get killed.

  17.6.2011 21:29 #11

• LordRuss

  Mike, you might be a bit misleading in your descriptor as to how/why the cycles (60hz) would be an indicator of a person being able to let go of the item that is electrocuting them.
  
  In your DC current your correct, it's the constant feed in one direction that keeps the person flexing (if the action is gripping an item) holding onto an item. The cyclic action of AC and the possibility of an individual letting go is because of the reversing of that polarity. Or simply put (or outright wrong, but more simple to understand) one wire stops sending power long enough for the other to send power for a little while & then they trade off. The problem is, the polarity really doesn't change. It's the rate at which electricity is going down either wire (in a 2 wire configuration) or this "trading" action going on in an AC cord, that's the 60hz. It's that momentary 'stop' that might be all that the individual needed to give them the opportunity to drop the item that was electrocuting them.
  
  That's a really butchered way of looking at it & I'll probably be corrected as well, seeing as it's been a while since I've had to run 8 - 20 amp busses to my mix towers in a while, but I hope my memory served me well. That or I'm going to fry my shorts here in a couple of months.
  

  http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

  17.6.2011 23:47 #12

• Jeffrey_P

  Originally posted by plutonash: Originally posted by keebles: was it a crapple iphoney? No i think the head of the article clearly states knock off..meaning blackberry storm or something.
  
  Originally posted by Jeffrey_P: I like your new nic. It's still more than obvious you can't stop the smack down.
  Edit: Maybe it's not Hammerhead.
  That question I cannot answer since I don't own a game console.
  One thing is for sure, I will never own an Apple anything. I don't like Steven Blowjob trying to run the tech industry.
  Jeff Trying to run? he is running the tech industry for the most part. More specifically when it comes to handheld devices.
  Not yet he doesn't the market share and is still not there.
  
  The icloud, ipad,iphone....
  It's a closed network that only who own an Apple device has an invitation to.
  Give it up, Apple products are a mental illness.
  Jeff
  

  Cars, Guitars & Radiation.

  18.6.2011 01:13 #13

• KillerBug

  It is possible that these phones had onboard chargers; the power could be coming right into the phone at 110V. If this was the case, a little bit of face sweat and poorly located contacts might be all it takes to kill.
  
  I don't see why the Indian government cares...here is a country where the vast majority don't have cars, yet they average more than 1 death from auto accidents every 5 minutes. Half the country is starving, HIV/AIDs is at catastrophic levels, curable diseases are at epidemic rates due to lack of funds for medical care, and the government has criminalized parts of Hinduism (the most popular religion there by far). Cell phones killing one person a year seems downright harmless. If they were to take the money they will spend on this program, and put it towards feeding a few starving children, they would save a lot more lives.
  

  http://killerbug666.wordpress.com/

  18.6.2011 02:14 #14

• TreePro

  Quote from KillerBug
  "It is possible that these phones had onboard chargers; the power could be coming right into the phone at 110V. If this was the case, a little bit of face sweat and poorly located contacts might be all it takes to kill".
  
  Now that would be scary! A Chinese knockoff without probably no regulations for safety.
  India uses 240 volts I believe, and to have that voltage running through a conductor that close to your face makes me cringe. Probably cheap porous insulation and when you eat your Cheerios drooling milk over the cord, while talking on the phone will causes you to be permanently disconnected.
  

  18.6.2011 11:25 #15

• aldan

  i think i will call bullshit on this one too.worst shock i ever got was from a capacitor discharge ignition.70 thousand volts and an amp of current.if that had been a good connection i wouldnt be typing this today.

  19.6.2011 01:09 #16

• plazma247

  Could it not be his cheap mobile that was to blame could it be the cheap unregulated charge that due to what ever, maybe a spike collapsed and pulsed the 5v rail with the full 240v at time of collapse.. holding a phone to your head and getting a blow of ac isnts that almost the electric chair ... !
  
  Ive seen PC power unit out of cheap cases that blew and did spectacular things to the mother board... despite the fact the low voltage that was suppose to come out the other side..!

  19.6.2011 08:41 #17

• ivymike

  IT could be the capacitors used to power the LCD screen....These pack quite a punch and have enough current to kill or maim.

  20.6.2011 00:42 #18

• ivymike

  I should add that some countries do not use 120 volts as standard outlet voltage but use 240 volts instead.....

  20.6.2011 00:43 #19

• smiler123

  Can i buy one of these for my motherinlaw pls

  20.6.2011 03:37 #20

• xboxdvl2

  i got electricuted by a dodgy 240 volt extention cord while it was plugged in.for the next 10mins felt like my whole body was on fire.after having a cold shower i was ok.
  

  R.I.P. mr 1990 ford falcon.looking for a new car.computers still going good.

  20.6.2011 03:46 #21

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by xboxdvl2: i got electricuted by a dodgy 240 volt extention cord while it was plugged in.for the next 10mins felt like my whole body was on fire.after having a cold shower i was ok. The amount required to kill varies by person, and not even how you might expect...the professional athlete might go down from 120V/0.5A, while a random slob golfing in the rain walks away from a lightning strike complaining that the handle of his driver is melted to his skin.
  

  http://killerbug666.wordpress.com/

  20.6.2011 04:09 #22

• LordRuss

  Electricity is a fickle beast. Without a forensic writeup we'll all speculate till the cows wonder into the front room as to how this happened.
  
  I've been bitten hundreds of times too. Still couldn't tell you why I'm walking around on a few of the cases either.
  

  http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

  20.6.2011 15:58 #23

• bobhill

  I can only hope it was of the guys from microsoft support that ive had to deal with over the years!!

  23.6.2011 21:10 #24

• pmshah

  I am a retired US trained electrical engineer presently living in Gujarat. I know the conditions here so let me clarify a few points for the readers.
  
  First of all it is the current and NOT the voltage that kills an individual. The current level depends on 2 things - source impedance AND the load resistance - in this case the individual getting the electrical impulse. I incidentally have high resistance and while living in US worked on live 115 volt household circuits without feeling any thing more than a very slight tingling. At 240 volts - Indian standard working voltage - I do feel it.
  
  Now to the actual conditions. If one wants to be ABSOLUTELY safe in while using a mobile phone plugged into the charger then that charger needs to be isolated transformer type. Due to high cost difference ALL manufacturers use SMPS where in lies the danger. The overvoltage protection circuit that is required ha to be - OPEN output under failure - an expensive affair. I have seen situations here where the neutral gets connected to one of the other 2 phases giving out close to 420 volts in stead of standard 240V. I would also hazard a guess that over 75% of installations in Gujarat have either none or dicey at best earthing. Thanks to extremely lax and avaricious attitude of the government inspectors/contractors and last but not the least the actual end users themselves. If the charger is not capable of failing in safe mode full 419 volts or even 240 volts are likely to be delivered to the mobile phone.
  
  I very much doubt if absolutely any mobile phone manufactured any where in the world can stand up to this level of power. I am not surprised the boy got electrocuted. I am sorry that he died but he himself is partially to be blamed. Don't simply knock the cheap Chinese takeoffs. I can almost guarantee you that today almost all such chargers and / or power adapters sold worldwide today are made in China. Check out yours.
  
  We can buy Chinese make mobile phone chargers locally for around US$ 1.50 equivalent which are no better or worse than what you get with original boxed European or American brand mobile phones.

  24.6.2011 02:27 #25

• LordRuss

  @pmshah...
  
  Now that makes the 100% sense I was trying to understand... I knew it was in there, just been 100years since high school shop & 15 years since 25V AIT...
  
  Thanks for your service, you do us proud...
  
  

  http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

  24.6.2011 12:25 #26