LG executives charged with manslaughter over death of Italian teacher who breathed fumes from burning fridge
Two executives from South Korean manufacturer LG have been charged with manslaughter over the death of an Italian teacher who inhaled toxic fumes after her fridge caught fire.
Eliana Rozio, 46, died on the night of June 27, 2020 in her home in Beinasco, in the Turin area, in Italy, after her LG refrigerator caught fire.
Now the prosecutor in charge of the case, Chiara Canepa, has finished a new investigation into the company after a civil judge reopened the case, which had initially been closed, according to local media. The case had initially been shelved in 2022 by the Prosecutor's Office after determining "the impossibility of determining precisely the causes of the fire".
Although an autopsy performed on Rozio's body had established that the cause of death was the inhalation of toxic fumes generated by the combustion of the insulating material present in the refrigerator, four experts who analysed the remains of the refrigerator at the time were unable to establish the exact cause.
This is despite three of the experts establishing that the fire was caused by a malfunction in the refrigerator. Their assessments concluded that the motherboard may have malfunctioned and caused sparks that ignited the plastic coating and the insulation in the fridge, causing toxic fumes that killed Rozio.
Italian prosecutors have now charged two executives at LG Electronics with manslaughter after establishing that the fridge may have violated local laws requiring that they "use materials resistant to combustion and the spread of fire in the construction of household appliances."
The case is ongoing. The defendants have not been named.
Story: NewsX