British boy, 7, electrocuted while on holiday in Thailand
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Your support makes all the difference.A seven-year-old boy died after being electrocuted while plugging his video game into a socket in a hotel room in Thailand.
Connor Dean O'Keefe had returned after a swim and was thought to have still been wet when he plugged in his Gameboy, a Christmas present. He was found slumped on the floor of his room at the Sunset Beach Hotel in Patong Beach, Phuket, by his mother, Kathleen, 45, and her partner, David Skinner, 49.
The family, from Walworth, south London, had been enjoying a festive break when the incident happened on Saturday. Ms O'Keefe, who has returned home with Connor's body, was reported to have said: "My son was only unplugging his Gameboy. He knew about the dangers of electricity, he was not stupid... he definitely was not wet. There should be some warning about the different electrical currents you get abroad."
The electrical system in Thailand is regarded as dengerous by Western standards. Most plugs are two-pronged, missing the third "earth" prong. Tests on newer three-pronged plugs found less than half were properly wired.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Sopol Borirak said: "No blame has been attached. It was an accident."
Wiraporn Ungathakorn, acting hotel manager, said: "The boy had been swimming. We believe he had plugged in his Gameboy or pulled at the Gameboy charger while still wet.
"The water must have gone straight into the plug. The safety cut-out could not save him. The hotel has paid his medical fees."
The resort is in an area badly affected by the tsunami two years ago. It has since been repaired and visitor numbers have largely recovered but local authorities fear that such incidents may affect tourism.
The Foreign Office declined to comment.
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