Did an iPhone 5 charger electrocute a Chinese woman?

iPhone charger

Was a Chinese stewardess, just weeks from her wedding, electrocuted by her iPhone 5 charger? That’s the claim Apple is investigating following a report widely distributed across a Chinese social media site.

Ma Ailun, a 23-year-old China Airlines flight attendant reportedly died after being electrocuted Thursday when she answered a call using her iPhone 5 that was recharging. The message was reposted more than 3,000 times on Weibo, China’s microblogging site…

According to the South China Morning Post, Ailun died after picking up what family said was a genuine iPhone 5 which was plugged into a wall charger. Other family members said on Weibo that the young woman had just stepped from a bath, according to Fortune.

Both the handset and charger were turned over to local police. Although the authorities confirmed the death, “they could not identify the source of the current that killed her,” Fortune reported.

Apparently hoping to get ahead of the story, Apple issued a statement, saying the iPhone maker was “deeply saddened” by her death and pledging to “fully investigate and co-operate with authorities.”

On another issue related to the iPhone which later was widely circulated in the Chinese media, Apple CEO Tim Cook was forced to publicly apologize in order to smooth relations. China has become a huge market for Apple. The iPhone 5 Ma Ailun used was reportedly still under warranty.

While warnings went across across that country to never use a recharging device, lest possible shock, it is unclear whether the handset or charger was in fact genuine.

There have been multiple reports of fake chargers made in China, bearing the Apple logo. In 2012, local UK police investigated a man shocked by a fake charger he purchased.