Although the charred phone was later shown in the video, it couldn’t be verified if it was actually a Samsung phone.
In 2016, Samsung recalled 191,000 Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in China following the reported cases
In a shocking incident, a phone kept inside a man's bag suddenly caught fire in China. His hair, arm, and eyelashes got singed, as per a video posted by SCMP News on Twitter. The man claimed it was a Samsung phone that he had bought in 2016. He also said that the phone's battery wasn't changed and it was not under charging when it burst into flames while he was walking down a street. The incident is under investigation, as per the shared video.
The video, posted by South China Morning Post's Twitter handle on April 20, showed the man and a woman walking through a crowded street. Suddenly, there's a spark followed by a small explosion of flames in the bag he was carrying. This prompts him to drop the bag on the street and check on himself. The video also showed burn marks on his arm and showed his hair and eyebrows to be singed. Although the charred phone was later shown in the video, it couldn't be verified if it was actually a Samsung phone.
Many users on Twitter speculated that a swollen battery may have been the reason behind the fire. "Battery swollen could be one reason; secondly, there might be other articles in the bag that got in contact with the phone internal parts maybe the back cover wasn't closed in proper condition. Why are Chinese using such old phones when they come out with new phones every month," posted Stoney (@tony_dsilva).
Another user, Jackie Lan (@jackielan2000) tweeted that there was no point mentioning the name of the brand since the phone was five years old and must have had a swollen battery. "No point in naming the brand. It's a 5yrs old phone. Battery must be swelled by now. The battery of my ZTE BA910, bought in 2017, got swell 2yrs later and lucky it didn't catch fire."
User Gowtham (@GowthamM87) tweeted the man must have been using a bulged battery, adding that Samsung addressed the matter when its Galaxy Note 7 reported the issue back in 2017.
In 2016, Samsung recalled 191,000 Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in China following the reported cases of an overheating battery. It had also warned its customers across the world to switch off their devices.
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