A young woman dropped her new phone into an open-pit toilet Wednesday in Xinxiang city, Henan, and two people died after one attempted to retrieve it. The woman's husband was the first to jump into the knee-deep cesspool to try and find the $320 phone, but he started having difficulty breathing and fainted, the South China Morning Post reports, citing a local newspaper. His mother then jumped in after him, and the same fate befell her. Both died of suffocation, and more were injured when others followed in an attempt to save them.
The young woman herself was the third to jump in, and also fell unconscious. Her father-in-law then called over neighbors, and when they arrived to help, he, too, jumped in, as did two neighbors who also fainted. "The smell was too strong. I lost consciousness before I could see anything," says one of the neighbors.
http://www.newser.com/story/188147/2-die-trying-to-save-phone-that-fell-into-toilet.html
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So what the heck are these people eating that's bad enough the fumes can kill? And why does the husband and his mother end up jumping in the stew after the phone, while the woman stands and watches?
Death by Fumes Trying to Rescue Cell Phone
Discussion in 'News & Current Events' started by InTheLight, Jun 9, 2014.
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InTheLight Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
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padredurand Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
This story reminds me of an old yarn about a man who dropped a dollar in the outhouse. Bubba was there to help and pulls out his wallet, selects a $20 bill and throws it down the hole. The feller who lost the dollar yells, "Bubba, what are you doing?" Bubba replies, "Y'all don't think I'm gonna jump in thar for a dollar."
Back to the OP. How sad that folk would value a phone so highly. I know it's a lot of money down the drain, so to speak, but that isn't a device worth dying over. -
A thesaurus. -
Seven die trying to get 75 cents from well Cambodia
http://www.ecanadanow.com/world/201...ing-to-get-75-cents-from-well-cambodia-photo/ -
I wouldn't have thought it would be deadly that fast. Actually, before reading this, I wouldn't have stopped and thought about it being deadly. Gross and not worth the risk of disease, sure, but an open pit being deadly right off? No. I'd have assumed the phone would be destroyed and not gone after it, but maybe they had insurance and thought it was worth a quick retrieval and a long bath after!
And hopefully they put signs on portable toilets. I imagine people might go in there to sleep or some people might sneak in for a smoke, especially teenagers or such trying to hide it from parents or people smoking non-cigarettes at fairs and such. I'm surprised we don't hear of more accidents of this nature, unless there are signs on them and I just never noticed. It never occurred to me to light something on fire in one! Though it kind of tempts me now that I know...how long would it take to explode? HMMMM??? Might be a fun controlled experiment...there must be a testing facility where these things are tried! Porta-potty science labs. They do exist. I just know it. -
Revmitchell Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
I thought the op was going to turn out to be joke.
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InTheLight Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
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Many years ago my brother in law was a volunteer fireman in Danbury, Ct. I can't remember why now, but one fireman had to go down in a manhole for some reason and collapsed due to poisonous gas. Another firemen went down to help him, and he too collapsed. They both died.
This happened back in the mid 70s. -
Desperate druggies have been known to collect their own feces in a bag and huff the fumes to get high.
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I can see this in a comedy film... -
...If it is not there already.