Posted by AbuBasim
S Korea probes 'cell phone death'
Authorities in South Korea are investigating the death of a man amid reports he may have been killed by an exploding mobile phone battery.
He was found at his workplace with a melted battery in his shirt pocket and punctured lungs and heart.
Phone maker LG said the cell would have been rigorously tested and was only sold in Korea but it could not comment further because of the police probe.
A welder in China was reportedly killed by an exploding cell phone in July.
Soot shape
The 33-year-old South Korean was found in a quarry where he worked in Cheongwon County in North Chungcheong Province, 135km (85 miles) south of Seoul, police said.
A co-worker said the victim was bleeding from the nose and his shirt had soot in the shape of a phone.
Kim Hun, a doctor at Chungbuk National University Hospital, told South Korea's Kookmin Ilbo: "There were burns on his left chest, and fractures of his ribs and spine as well as haemorrhaging in the lungs.
"Considering all these factors, it seems that high pressure from an explosion damaged his lungs and heart, leading to his death."
A police investigation is under way.
Phone maker LG issued a statement saying it rigorously tested its products and the lithium-ion polymer batteries had been approved for consumers by independent agencies.
It said: "We are not in a position to discuss this incident further, as an investigation by the Korean police department and the National Institute of Scientific Investigation (Nisi) is underway.
"We confirm that the handset which is presumed to be involved in the incident is manufactured and sold only in Korea."
Korean media said this was the first case of a suspected phone battery fatality in the country.
The case in China's Gansu province was attributed to the man's high working temperatures. The explosion apparently drove rib splinters through his heart and he died after emergency surgery.
High temperatures would not have been the cause on such a cold day in a Korean quarry, local media said.
Kevlar mobile phone case, anyone?
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Snuck! It's ointment time! -- Mad Jack the Pirate
[ This Message was edited by: AbuBasim on 2007-11-28 18:58 ]
Posted by KCC4
... thats really sad to hear....
Remind me never to by another LG phone..
Posted by paul101
i flipped my phone open (lgu880) a while ago and it came flying off
does anyone know what model it was?
Posted by lovewalrus
Shit, never again will i carry my viewty in my trouser pocket-would rather loose my life than one of my family jewels! Ha
This message was posted from a LG
Posted by Mizzle
Really, really, really old news.
EDIT: Sorry! I was thinking about this one
http://www.esato.com/news/article.php/id=1731
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dedicated blog ever![ This Message was edited by: Mizzle on 2007-11-28 21:58 ]
Posted by AbuBasim
Perhaps we will see new restrictions coming up affecting air travellers packing mobile phones and laptops...
Posted by MYB87
so the safest place to carry a cellphone in the back pocket? ^^
Posted by Miss UK
WoW
put your phones in your bags folks
Posted by fatevdestiny
On 2007-11-28 23:19:08, MYB87 wrote:
so the safest place to carry a cellphone in the back pocket? ^^
That would blow yer ass off
Shame what happened
Posted by Twometre
[quote]
On 2007-11-29 02:22:03, miss uk wrote:
WoW
put your phones in your bags folks
Miss uk, we men never carry bags around
This is so sad and scarry. Being killed by your own phone Imagine those who like working around fire or when you are having a braai, how evil these devicer can be 
Posted by gola
july
Posted by Twometre
I once had a battery problem but it wasnt servere. Back in the golden days when the Nokia 3310 was still a heat. I rceieved a call on a hot and sunny day. The battery forced itself out of the phone.
Luckily it was still far from the ear. It burnt my sim an some of the components. :sad
Posted by Miss UK
buy a laptop case and pretend you have a laptop lol
put your phone in there and if any accidents there goes the case
btw ive never had anything like that happen,
my mates mothers television went up in smoke though
HITACHI it was new aswell (Widescreen 28 inch)
Posted by razec
Sad news, still nothings perfect. there is only one clear thing to those who are afraid of buying LG now. if it's your time you can't escape it
Posted by Twometre
@miss uk thins heppan and at times they are just confusing. Imagine if you were near the television what would have heppaned.
Posted by Twometre
[quote]
On 2007-11-29 20:10:51, gola wrote:
july
you actually have all the reasons to be. imagine if you were taking advantage of the nokia 1100 tourch light in a braai at night
Posted by max_wedge
So that's Nokia, LG, Macbooks and Sony Laptops to stear clear of so far
Posted by AbuBasim
It wasn't the mobile phone battery that killed the man:
Man charged with manslaughter in "exploding battery" case
In one of the more bizarre turns we've seen stories take, new information has come to light in the recent exploding battery death we reported on. It turns out that the LG battery which had initially been blamed for the "accident" wasn't the cause at all, rather, a co-worker of the victim has admitted to hitting the man with a 15-ton hydraulic rig while driving in reverse, and has been charged with manslaughter. Kwon Young-sup, who had originally reported that he had heard an explosion and discovered the man's body, has now told police that he invented the story as a cover-up for an accident. So, you can now return to placing calls on your LG without fear -- but watch your back on the job-site.
Source.
Posted by Ricky D
I think the odds of actually being killed by an exploding mobile phone battery under normal use are only a little shorter than spontaneous human combustion, which does actually happen but you don't see people carrying buckets of water around with them just in case. I'm still keeping my phone in my pocket. I'll take the risk of blowing my balls off.