On the evening of August 28, 10-year-old Ruirui was taking a shower in her home in Longhua New District when a sudden power surge turned her life upside-down. She ended up seriously injured while her father, who tried to rescue her, died. The cause for the accident is still under investigation, although a faulty water heater could be partially responsible.
The apartment complex where Ruirui’s family lived was located in an urban village: You Yuan Xin Cun, Alley 5, Building No. 7. According to Ruirui’s mom, Mrs. Lei, her daughter had gone to wash up around 6pm. Not long afterwards, she and her husband, whose last name is Wang, heard a scream from the bathroom.
Wang immediately ran to see what was wrong. A little while later, Lei heard him yell too. She and her mother-in-law, confused and worried, rushed to the bathroom themselves.
When they got there they found father and daughter both lying on the ground, unconscious. At first they thought the two had only received a momentary shock, Lei recalled with tears in her eyes.
Lei turned off the power source for the water heater, but when she went to help her husband up she found that electricity was still running through his body. The cause was most likely the showerhead he was clenching in one hand. In a combined effort, she and Ruirui’s grandmother managed to pry it out of his tight grip. Afterwards Wang was still breathing, but knocked out.
The water heater in the family's bathroom didn't turn off even after its power was cut.
Meanwhile, Ruirui had revived. After the power source had been shut off she’d gradually regained consciousness. When she saw her father lying on the floor, she even crawled up and tried to help him.
Lei and her mother-in-law attempted to resuscitate Wang while they waited for help to arrive. Emergency responders brought both him and Ruirui to Longhua People’s Hospital where despite their best efforts, Wang passed away. His daughter is still in care for internal injuries.
On August 31, a reporter paid the bereaved family a visit in the hospital. Ruirui’s right hand showed burn marks, with light blistering. Her internal organs had also suffered damage, prompting doctors to extend her stay in the hospital.
Understandably, the 10-year-old seemed to have been traumatized by the whole incident. According to her mother, when the family first arrived at the hospital she had asked doctors to save her dad. After finding out he had passed away anyway, she withdrew into herself, refusing to talk, eat or even sleep.
Bathrooms and especially showerheads now terrify her; since the incident she has refused to bathe or go to the restroom alone. Family members have learned not to mention her father around her to prevent her from sinking even further into her depression.
Meanwhile, the cause of the fatal accident remains unknown. After seeing that her husband and daughter had been shocked, Lei quickly turned off the power source for the bathroom’s water heater. She even called the landlord of the apartment, who immediately cut off the electricity for the whole building. But despite all their precautions, the water heater still held a charge afterwards, which may have contributed to Wang’s death.
Lei remembers when she bought the water heater in mid-February of this year. It’s a Midea-brand device that she found in Kang Run Hua Market, in Longhua. At the time the store's salesperson assured her that this particular model was protected against electrical leakage and would automatically shut off in the case of a surge. As circumstances showed, however, it didn’t work.
The apartment complex where the accident took place
Lei’s landlord has hired a third party to investigate the electrical circuits of the apartment building, to see if faulty wiring caused the accident. The family's apartment has been sealed off during the inspection. Longhua’s Office of Safety and Supervision told reporters that they are currently waiting for the results, and that the incident is still under investigation.
[Images via SZnews.com r/t Shenzhen Evening News]
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