Thread: Woman dies when company cuts power

NZ police probe power cut death

A New Zealand woman on an oxygen machine died after an energy firm switched off her power supply because of unpaid bills, her family claims.

Folole Muliaga, a 44-year-old mother of four, died within two hours of the electricity being switched off at her home in the northern city of Auckland.

Police said they were investigating the circumstances of Mrs Muliaga's death.

The power company, Mercury Energy, said it had been unaware any disconnection would put her life at risk.

Relatives of Mrs Muliaga, a schoolteacher, said she had been off work since February with a heart and lung condition.

Because of this, the family claim, she had fallen behind with her energy bills.

'Deeply sympathetic'

When a company representative arrived at the house to disconnect the supply, they said they impressed upon him her dependency on the machine to stay alive.

Mrs Muliaga's son Letitaia, 20, said the employee showed no compassion.

"He said he is here doing his job and he's here to cut the power off," he was quoted by local media as saying.

Another relative, Brendan Sheehan, said that almost immediately Mrs Muliaga started to suffer breathing difficulties and collapsed.

Paramedics were called but she died within two hours of the power being cut, he added.

Mercury Energy said it was "deeply sympathetic" about the death, but disputed that its contractor had been made aware of Mrs Muliaga's condition.

"We were simply unaware that loss of electricity to the household was putting a vulnerable customer at risk," general manager James Moulder said.

Police Inspector Bruce Bird said the authorities were investigating the incident, but he added that it was too early to speculate on possible criminal charges.

State Owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard also warned against pre-judging the outcome.

"I do think it is important that the facts are established before people rush to judgement," he said.

This is very sad, however, I wonder why all the family members that are now so involved didn't help the old girl pay her bill?

Goog God that is terrible.
How hard would it be to put a "Medical Alert" notice on her account or power meter to warn not to do such a thing.
A peel and stick sticker could have saved her life.

I read this in a Danish paper. When I find stories there I usually find the equivalent stories at BBC, CNN, etc. to post them here.

This only to say, my paper said they told the guy they couldn't pay the bill until she got her check the day after she died, and she had only returned from the hospital the day before.

But it's not an excuse for either side of the story. I just don't think this woman should have been dead at this point no matter how you look at it.

What would she have done if a storm had knocked out the power? No backup plan? Wtf?

Talk about living life on the edge.

That's sad

Did the power company kill her for cutting off the power or did she kill herself for not paying the bill?

If the family was aware at that time that the jerk was going to cut off the power ( That is if what the family said did happen) why didn't they move her to another power source quickly......




Story sounds a little fishy to me...