Neon sign power leak blamed for ATM electric shock death of baby girl

– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

PHUKET: Electric shocks that killed a two-year-old girl in Trang’s Yan Ta Khao district on August 7 stemmed from a power leakage from a neon sign placed over an automated teller machine, police said yesterday.

Citing an electrical engineer’s report, Pol Major Saroj Chongrak of Yan Ta Khao police said the ATM was linked to a nearby gas station’s power system. After all signs there were turned on, a power leakage from the sign short-circuited on the metal machine and shocked the girl when she touched it.

Police have interviewed seven witnesses, including some who suffered electric shocks on the previous night, and will soon summon the gas station owner for information.

No charges have yet been laid and Saroj said the case would take another one or two weeks to conclude.

— Phuket Gazette Editors