14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic devices equipped with lithium-ion batteries should be handled with extra care, as they can suddenly experience overheating and then burst into flames.
A 29-year-old man from Cape Town knows this best, as what appears to be a power bank caught fire at OR Tambo International Airport, forcing him to remove his pants.
According to a report from News24, the device in question was a power bank, but other sources claim it was a phone. Some say the device that caught fire was actually an electronic cigarette.
The whole incident was captured on CCTV camera installed in the airport, and fortunately, the man says he didn’t experience injuries, as he managed to jump out of his pants before receiving any burns.
“It felt quite hot in my pocket but I thought it was normal, like sometimes your phone heats up when you're using it, but I never thought it could explode. I was so shocked, I didn't know what to do, I automatically just lost my mind. I was very, very scared,” 29-year-old Lwando Mashiamahle told the cited source.
The risk of fire
Electronic devices catching fire all of a sudden isn’t necessarily a new thing, as such incidents became more common with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in 2016. The device shipped with batteries that suffered from overheating, eventually causing some units to emit smoke or catch fire all of a sudden, even when not charging.
After one failed attempt to repair the devices and replace the faulty batteries, Samsung eventually decided to retire the entire Galaxy Note 7 lineup to eliminate the risk of fire.
Since then, occasional reports of devices that caught fire made the rounds, including other Samsung smartphones, but also models manufacturer by other companies.
