Man killed after his mobile phone explodes, severing an artery in his neck



A man chats on his mobile phone (file photo). A shop assistant has died in China after his mobile phone battery exploded in his pocket

A shopworker has died after his mobile phone exploded, severing a major artery in his neck.

It is believed that the 20-year-old man had just finished charging the phone’s battery before placing it in his breast pocket.

Police in Guangzhou, China, are investigating whether the phone was counterfeit.



The man, believed to be an employee at a computer shop in Guangzhou, China, died after putting a new battery in his phone.



Local Chinese daily Shin Min Daily News reported that on January 30 at 7.30pm a shop employee heard a loud bang - and saw her colleague lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

Alarmingly, local reports claimed the incident was the ninth recorded mobile phone explosion in China since 2002.



In June 2007 welder Xiao Jinpeng, 22, died from chest wounds when his own mobile exploded while at work at a mill.

A government inquiry said the phone's lithium battery had exploded due to heat from the mill.

Also in 2007 a South Korean man was found dead in a quarry with a burning mobile phone stuck to his chest. It was initially thought his phone had exploded, killing him.

However a co-worker later admitted to making the story up after he accidentally backed over the man in an excavator, pinning him to a rock and killing him.



Chinese media published advice for mobile phone users after the explosions, including:



● Always use original batteries

● Never modify your phone

● Always use original battery chargers

● Do not expose your mobile phone to high temperatures

● Avoid exposing it to direct sunlight

● Avoid long phone conversations

● Do not make or answer calls when the phone is charging

● Try to keep your phone in a bag instead of in a pocket

● Do not use damaged batteries.

