Airplane bans on certain mobile devices due to the risk they might explode might seem excessive, but actually seeing a smartphone blow up shows just how real of a danger they can present.
Recently, the CCTV footage above, showing a smartphone suddenly erupting in blue flames while being kept in the unsuspecting owner’s breast pocket, has gone viral on social media in Indonesia.
According to the police, the CCTV footage was taken at Hotel Ciputra in the city of Semarang on Saturday afternoon. It appears that the phone that exploded was a Samsung.
“That’s right, on Saturday, September 30, 2017, the incident occurred. The phone is a Samsung Grand Duos, owned by one Yulianto,” said Central Java Police Spokesman Agus Triatmojo, as quoted by Kumparan yesterday.
The Grand Duos model was released in 2013, before the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which was banned on airlines around the world, including in Indonesia, over fears the batteries had the potential to explode.
There have been no previous reports of Grand Duos exploding like in the video.
The police say they are still investigating why the phone exploded. They did mention that the phone hadn’t been charged with a portable charger before it exploded.
According to the police, Yulianto only suffered minor cuts on the left side of his chest as he minimized the potential for harm by taking off his shirt while the phone was on fire.
Samsung has not yet issued any statement regarding the video.
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