Report: South Korea man dies in cell phone blast
While research scientists are still grappling with the possibility of harmful effects from cellular handset use on the human body, a fatal accident involving a mobile phone occurred recently in South Korea. The TelecomsKorea News Service reported that a 33-year-old man was found dead, presumably killed by an explosion of a mobile phone battery identified to be from LG, though no specific model was cited.
It was reported that the man was found lying beside an electronic shovel at a quarry where he worked. A co-worker described him as bleeding from the nose and having a phone with a melted battery in his left shirt pocket. A professor from the Chungbuk National University examined the body and speculated that a phone battery explosion, which punctured his heart and lungs, was the main cause of death. He added that the victim's ribs and spine were broken.
This is the first time a cell phone battery explosion is believed to have taken a life in South Korea. Earlier this year, a man in China was reportedly killed by a mobile phone explosion.
(Source: Crave Asia)
reporting noting that the injuries were much too severe to be attributed to a
battery explosion.
reporting noting that the injuries were much too severe to be attributed to a
battery explosion.
By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
A phone battery may catch fire. But it cannot kill a man who's already dead.
A co-worker confessed that it was him, not the mobile phone, that killed a 33-year-old man who was found lying dead with a burnt mobile phone in his shirt pocket.
Kwon, 58, said on Thursday night that he hit Seo, 33, while driving his excavator backward at a stone quarry in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province, the police said. The phone was on fire when he found Seo lying down on the ground, and he was too afraid to say about what had happened, the police said.
"I was moving the excavator and Seo was suddently out of my sight. I ran out and saw he was lying down bleeding and his cloths on fire,'' Kwon was quoted as saying by the police. ``All these happened in a moment, and I was too afraid about the accident. So I lied that the battery exploded and killed Seo."
Seo was found dead Wednesday morning at a stone quarry in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province, with a severely burnt mobile phone in his shirt pocket and with his chest burnt and ribs fractured. Police initially suspected that the battery damaged his heart and lungs when it exploded, leading to his death.
A number of Korean and foreign newspapers incautiously reported that the phone explosion killed the man, even though LG Electronics, the manufacturer of the phone, flately denied such a possiblity, given that the lithium-ion polymer battery is not prone to explosion.
Thursday's autopsy found that Seo's body had bruises and factures all over his chest, arms, back and a finger, the police coroner said _ a damage too dispersed to be believed to be caused by a single mobile phone explosion.
Lithium-ion polymer batteries used in mobile phones can catch fire by external forces but they hardly explode like a bomb, experts say. Even before the police's announcement, suspicions have been raised that other forces may have killed Seo resulting in the battery damage, because the phone appeared to be still in one piece.
It is not immediately known whether LG is to sue the newspapers and Internet news agencies that hastily blamed the firm for the man's death.
- Killer Was Co-Worker, Not Phone Battery
- by savingpvtbryan November 29, 2007 5:29 PM PST
- http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2007/11/123_14696.html
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(14 Comments)By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
A phone battery may catch fire. But it cannot kill a man who's already dead.
A co-worker confessed that it was him, not the mobile phone, that killed a 33-year-old man who was found lying dead with a burnt mobile phone in his shirt pocket.
Kwon, 58, said on Thursday night that he hit Seo, 33, while driving his excavator backward at a stone quarry in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province, the police said. The phone was on fire when he found Seo lying down on the ground, and he was too afraid to say about what had happened, the police said.
"I was moving the excavator and Seo was suddently out of my sight. I ran out and saw he was lying down bleeding and his cloths on fire,'' Kwon was quoted as saying by the police. ``All these happened in a moment, and I was too afraid about the accident. So I lied that the battery exploded and killed Seo."
Seo was found dead Wednesday morning at a stone quarry in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province, with a severely burnt mobile phone in his shirt pocket and with his chest burnt and ribs fractured. Police initially suspected that the battery damaged his heart and lungs when it exploded, leading to his death.
A number of Korean and foreign newspapers incautiously reported that the phone explosion killed the man, even though LG Electronics, the manufacturer of the phone, flately denied such a possiblity, given that the lithium-ion polymer battery is not prone to explosion.
Thursday's autopsy found that Seo's body had bruises and factures all over his chest, arms, back and a finger, the police coroner said _ a damage too dispersed to be believed to be caused by a single mobile phone explosion.
Lithium-ion polymer batteries used in mobile phones can catch fire by external forces but they hardly explode like a bomb, experts say. Even before the police's announcement, suspicions have been raised that other forces may have killed Seo resulting in the battery damage, because the phone appeared to be still in one piece.
It is not immediately known whether LG is to sue the newspapers and Internet news agencies that hastily blamed the firm for the man's death.