Apple has confirmed that it will be investigating an accident in which a woman was killed, electrocuted whilst answering a call on her charging iPhone 5.

The incident occurred last Thursday when Ma Ailun, a 23-year-old woman who worked as a flight attendant for China Southern Airlines, answered the charging phone after just getting out of the bath.

The incident was tweeted by Ma’s sister after blogging the incident. She reported that her sister, who was planning her wedding on August 8, fell to the floor after picking up the call. The tweet was reposted more than 3,000 times and prompted arguments over whether Apple’s handsets were safe to use whilst charging.

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A spokesperson for Apple China said: "We are deeply saddened to learn of this tragic incident and offer our condolences to the Ma family. We will fully investigate and cooperate with authorities in this matter.”

Death by electrocution whilst using a charging mobile phone is an extremely rare occurrence but could be caused by a failure of electrical insulation. It has been suggested that such a failure could have been caused by extremely hot climate in Xingiang, the region in China where Ma Ailun lived.