14 DAY TRIAL // We’re more or less used to smartphones exploding these days, but this time the incident involving a 48-year-old man from India wasn’t caused by a faulty part.
Instead, the device, whose brand and model were not disclosed, exploded after being struck by lightning while in the owner’s pocket, catching fire and causing a small blast that burned the man’s private parts.
A report from India Times cites local residents as saying that the battery of the phone was the one that exploded, with post-fire debris found in his pocket.
“I fell on the after a sudden explosion. Lightning struck my mobile phone that was in the pocket. My felt that lower body was paralysed,” the owner of the phone was quoted as saying to the press in an approximate English.
No info on brand and model
Doctors who treated the man explain that the battery of the phone caught fire after being struck by lightning, revealing that he suffered severe burns that require a long recovery time.
“He has suffered injuries in his privates and lower abdomen. It would take some time for his recovery. Battery exploded due to lightning,” the doctor said.
It goes without saying that the brand of the phone isn’t the most important piece of information right now because such an incident could have impacted any device, though it would have been interesting to learn more details and to see photos of the device to analyze the aftermath.
Phone explosions, however, are becoming more of a common thing, in most of the cases due to overheating that takes place in the battery compartment. South Korean manufacturer Samsung was forced to recall the entire Galaxy Note 7 lineup of devices last year after it discovered battery issues, which in some cases caused overheating and consequently small fires.
Other companies have suffered isolated reports of explosions as well, including Apple and Xiaomi.