Elderly couple, son electrocuted to death due to water heater installed in unsafe manner
An elderly couple and their son were electrocuted because the water heater in the couple’s Ho Ching Road Housing Board flat had been installed in an unsafe manner, a coroner’s court heard on Wednesday (March 9).
The tragedy on Dec 10, 2020 claimed the lives of Mr Omar Abdul Manan, 80, his wife Madam Asmah Bujang, 66, and their son Mr Muhamad Ashikin Omar, 45.
Checks showed that a three-pin plug connected to an electrical socket was used to supply power to the heater.
Senior associate engineer Goh Chin Fong from the Energy Market Authority told the court that the heater should have been directly connected to a “double-pole switch” instead of a wall plug.
Mr Goh, who was providing expert testimony, described the switch as an “on-off switch with an on-off light”.
When investigators disassembled the water heater’s three-pin plug, they also found that the neutral and earth cables had fused together.
As a result, the current flowed back to a heating tank in the water heater. This caused a metallic hose connected to the tank to be energised.
Mr Omar, who was found in the bathroom, is believed to have been electrocuted after touching the hose. Madam Asmah was reportedly electrocuted after she rushed in to assist him.
Mr Ashikin, who arrived at the flat later in the afternoon, died when he touched his parents.
Following the tragedy, the elderly couple’s daughter told investigators that the water heater was purchased about seven years earlier but she had no clue who installed it.
Mr Goh told State Coroner Adam Nakhoda that the cables in the three-pin plug could have fused together due to overloading.
A double-pole switch is safer as the cables are spaced further apart, minimising the risk of them fusing together.
The court heard that the water heater should have caused a power trip because of the electricity leakage. This would have cut off power to the unit.
But when investigators checked the flat, they found that the residual current circuit breaker (RCCB) did not protect the main electricity circuit for the whole unit. Only the utility room was protected.
The elderly couple had lived at the same flat since the 1970s. Back then, HDB homes were not installed with RCCBs, said Mr Goh.
He added that HDB installed the circuit breakers only from the 1980s and an RCCB was added to the couple’s home following an upgrading exercise about 30 years after they moved in.
However, in their home, it only served to protect the utility room.
HDB flats in the 1970s also did not have double-pole switches, said Mr Goh, who added that it was because water heaters were not widely used then.
The state coroner will give his findings next month.
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