Μake us preferred on Google A 17-year-old boy died of electrocution on the island of Kimolos after he went to take a shower in an outdoor bathroom at an old residence, with authorities investigating the exact circumstances of the incident.
The case has shocked the local community, while attention has focused on the electrical installation at the property and whether an electrical leak occurred.
Authorities are also examining whether the installation had the necessary safety measures, including a residual-current device, which can cut off electricity in the event of an electrical leak.
Mother also received electric shocks
The doctor who spoke with the teenager’s mother, Agapitos Xanthis, described the dramatic moments surrounding the incident on “Koinonia Ora MEGA.”
Xanthis said the boy’s mother called him that afternoon after finding her son in the bathroom.
The bathroom was a small structure outside the main house, as was common in older homes on the island, he said. The boy had gone to take a shower but did not return, prompting his mother to go outside to check on him.
She found him partly inside and partly outside the shower, not breathing and with a bluish appearance. She believed he had been electrocuted.
“When she called me, she told me, ‘It’s also shocking me right now,’” Xanthis said.
He immediately told her to switch off the main electrical supply. At the same moment, the electricity went out.
“Seconds passed,” he said.
An ambulance and emergency responder were immediately dispatched. Xanthis also asked the island’s two rural medical facilities to prepare defibrillators.
The ambulance arrived within about five minutes, and the responder began CPR. He was also able to deliver one defibrillation shock, indicating that the teenager had a heart rhythm at that point, Xanthis said.
The boy was then placed in the ambulance while CPR continued on the way to the rural medical clinic. Despite the efforts of the medical team, the teenager had already died.
Xanthis said the mother had found him too late for the medical team to do much more.
Experts point to electrical installation
Giorgos Kalliakmanis, honorary President of the Association of Police Officers in Southeast Attica, commenting on the incident, questioned why an electrician had certified the property’s electrical installation if it did not have a residual-current device.
He also warned about the practice of leaving a water heater switched on continuously, saying an electrical leak while the heater is operating can result in electrocution.
Forensic pathologist Grigoris Leon said the incident appeared to involve a faulty electrical installation, although further expert examination would be required to establish the exact fault.
He explained that electrocution can be instantaneous, particularly at higher voltages, leaving a person with little or no opportunity to react.
According to Leon, forensic examinations can reveal characteristic marks on the body, including a burn where the electrical current entered and potentially another point where it exited.
He said electrical current can also disrupt the heart’s normal electrical activity, causing it to stop immediately.
Leon said an autopsy, postmortem examination and histological tests would be needed to confirm the cause of death. Samples would typically be taken from the heart and from areas of the skin showing electrical burns.
Doctor’s warning may have saved a second life
Leon also emphasized that Xanthis’ advice to the mother to cut the power immediately may have prevented another death.
In an electrocution, he said, a person who tries to pull the victim away with bare hands while the electrical source remains active can become a second victim.
“The source was obviously still active,” Leon said, explaining that if the mother had attempted to move her son with her bare hands, particularly in the bathroom, she could also have been electrocuted.
He stressed that people should never touch an electrocution victim with bare hands while the electrical source remains active.
