The next time you’re tempted to answer a phone call while refuelling, think of this.
The recent blast at a petrol station which resulted in a 25-year-old woman sustaining 60 percent burns to her body was caused by fuel vapour and radiation from her mobile phone.
Any kind of mobile phone — original or cloned — can cause an ignition, Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Operations chief Samsol Maarif Saibani told Bernama.
He added that the victim was believed to have opened the left passenger door to get her device while her other hand was holding the fuel pump nozzle.
Samsol told the news agency that the victim’s movement had caused fuel vapour to enter the car and react with the radiation from her phone, causing a fire.
“Both (kinds of phones) emit radiation and there is no difference in the level of radiation when the mobile phone is being answered or used for WhatsApp or sending messages,” he was quoted as saying.
“If you really need to answer the phone, go into the petrol station’s store or find an enclosed area. But it is still better to wait until you are out of the area,” he was quoted as saying.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Electrical Engineering senior lecturer Dr Kamaludin Mohamad Yusof said the device’s electromagnetic field (EMF) was very sensitive to fuel.
According to him, even hot weather could have made the EMF more sensitive.
“If the weather is hot, vapour would be produced from the gas at the petrol station and EMF will react with it to cause a fire,” he told Bernama.
