Korean man killed by exploding cellphone
South Korea, which has already seen two people supposedly struck by lightning drawn to their cellphones, has now experienced its first death due to an exploding handset battery. According to the AP, a quarry worker was found dead Wednesday with the remnants of an LG mobile melted into his shirt pocket, much like the welder who died under similar tragic circumstances this summer in China. For its part, while acknowledging that one of its phones was indeed the culprit, LG reportedly claimed that dying due to such an accident was "virtually impossible."[Image courtesy of Yonhap News, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jason @ Nov 28th 2007 2:14PM
This ridiculous! Manufacturers have got to get better quality control on these batteries. While it may be "virtually impossible," even the smallest percent of error will prove deadly given a large enough total number. Human lives aren't a calculated cost.
ShortFuse @ Nov 28th 2007 2:20PM
First casualty.
The war of machines...the uprise has started.
Prepare for battle.
Hraefn @ Nov 28th 2007 2:22PM
Hmm... I din't know that two cellphone-related deaths was considered "virtually impossible". If that's the case, then I wonder what LG considers "possible"?
mingkee @ Nov 28th 2007 4:30PM
LG=live grenade???
DP @ Nov 28th 2007 5:22PM
Just what we need today: exploding cellphones.
PC Tech Support Atlanta @ Nov 28th 2007 5:33PM
"For its part, while acknowledging that one of its phones was indeed the culprit."
Well, wait a minute now. Was it the phone or the battery? The article seems to go back and forth on which one was the root cause.
An engineer friend told me that if a Li-ON battery gets burning it is self-oxidizing. Meaning the fire creates oxygen which feeds the fire.
I wonder if later we will find out the quarry worker bought a cheap Chinese battery and that was the cause of his demise.
About people being killed while they had a cell phone on their person. It's illogical. Most likely they would have been killed even if they didn't have a cell phone. That's because their actions put them in danger. For instance: standing outdoors in a flat area while a storm is active in the area. Or being next to a tree during a storm. The cell phone was not the problem, their stupid actions were. It would make just as much sense to say they were struck by lightning because they were wearing glasses or shoes or some such. Since a high percentage of people in the world now carry cell phones the odds are a small percentage of them will be hit by lightning. It's not the phone's fault. If I remember the Snopes website has something to say on this issue.
Terry Thomas
Photographer
Atlanta, Georgia USA
http://TerryThomasPhotos.GooglePages.com
RC @ Nov 28th 2007 6:28PM
If you look at where the explosion was, it was in his shirt pocket. The explosion most likely sent shrapnel from the phone into his chest and hit his heart and/or lungs.
I guess if my phone blows up I'll be getting a hip replacement!
joya @ Nov 28th 2007 7:39PM
I'm sure the mythbusters will be on it...
Miguel @ Nov 28th 2007 10:41PM
I say the phrase "virtually impossible" was a little too loosely bases upon...
Nick @ Nov 28th 2007 11:06PM
Something told me not to rush and get a voyager... lol