For nearly a century now, many people have believed that a refrigerator can electrocute a person, causing spasms and death. The tale is based on the fact that early refrigerators, together with local wiring lacked proper grounding, and with many people walking barefoot, contact with anything electrical could prove “shocking.” Over the weekend, a man did indeed die after receiving a high electrical shock as he opened an icebox to retrieve as soda.
This accident occurred in a colmado in the community of El Corrazal Abajo in San Jose de las Matas, according to police sources. Farmer José De Jesus Rodriguez, 72, died as he made contact with the refrigerator, according to the report by the owner of the colmado, Antonio Alfredo Brisita, to the police. While electric shocks are still very common in housing without proper grounding, death by electrocution is a rare event. However, the site of towels hanging from the handles of most refrigerators indicates the persistence of the belief that opening of a refrigerator can cause spasms and death.
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El Nacional
29 October 2018
