A “made in China” hoverboard – or electric scooter – exploded on Monday morning causing a fire that burned down a flat in Wong Tai Sin.

Ms Au, living in Kam Wah House of Choi Hung Estate, told Apple Daily that she bought the hoverboard in Shenzhen last week, for around HK$1,800.

The burned hoverboard. Photo: Apple Daily.

She used the electric scooter once and she was recharging it at 2:00 a.m. after its battery went flat. Fumes started coming out of the product two hours later. Au pulled the plug but the fire had already started.

Au woke her mother and brother, urging them to vacate the flat. She said that she felt regretful, and from this accident she realised that “Chinese products will explode.”

Around 200 people had to evacuate the building, Oriental Daily reported.

A hoverboard spotted in Hong Kong. File photo: Cheema P.S.

Au said she hoped the Housing Authority could relocate them to a temporary flat soon.

A pair of tortoises the family had kept for some ten years were also saved from the fire.