15-year-old dies after smartphone explodes while talking – updated

While there have been thousands of reports of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 exploding none have caused fatalities though some have caused grievous injuries up to now. For probably the first time an exploding smartphone took somebody’s life. A 15-year-old boy died in Tamil Nadu, India after his smartphone caught fire on Thursday, leaving him with severe burns.

The police are enquiring whether the smartphone was Samsung make which has long history of exploding in user’s hands and has been banned onboard planes almost all over the world (the police have clarified that the fire was due to the high tension wires going overhead).

According to a Times of India report, the 15-year-old was on the terrace speaking to someone on the mobile, when it burst into flames. Even as he tried to throw the phone away, his clothes caught fire, leaving him with 40% to 50% burns. The boy who is originally from Bangalore had gone to his native place to celebrate the new year.

The police stated that electromagnetic radiation from high tension power lines nearby could also be the reason.