Teen dies while using phone during thunderstorm

Mobile phones are an amazing device that can do more than a couple of things. The device that started as a communication tool has become an essential consumer technology capable of assisting users in various tasks while making life easier.

However, the same device has been a cause of concern due to various issues including mental and physical health and impact of prolong usage of this device. A recent incident in Telangana has further posed a question to the safety of the users of smartphones. 

A teenager died in Ambaripet village of the southern state when he was struck by a thunderbolt while talking on the phone during a recent thunderstorm. According to The New Indian Express report, the 16-year-old victim named Yeshaboyina Mallesh was watering plants when the sudden thunderstorm began. 

A thunderbolt struck near the boy who was talking on the phone, and as an impact, the phone exploded killing him on the spot. The parents of the teenage boy rushed him to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him dead on arrival. 

Though it is widely believed that mobile phone do not attract lightning and do not pose any serious threat to the users, this incident definitely led to question regarding the use of mobile phones in extreme weather condition. The impact of the explosion of the phone did not just caused burns but led the death on the spot which itself proves the fatality of the incident. The metal present in mobile phones may not be sufficient to attract thunderbolt but it may not be safe to use the phone during a thunderstorm. 

• Thunderstorm
• Lightning