[Fwd URL] Chinese Youth Killed By Cell Phone Battery Blast

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=upiQNB-2007070320074461&show_article=1

Jul 3 03:10 PM US/Eastern
Chinese Youth Killed By Cell Phone Battery Blast beijing , July 03 (qna) - A 22-year-old Welder In North-western China Died When His Cell Phone Battery Exploded As He Was Working In Hot Temperatures, A Newspaper Reported Tuesday.

The Battery Exploded While The Phone Was In The Man's Pocket As He Was Welding At A Factory In Shuangcheng In Jinta County In Gansu Province, The Lanzhou Chenbao Reported, Adding That The Death Was Believed To Be The First In China Caused By A Cell Phone Battery.

The June 19 Blast Broke A Rib And Drove It Into The Man's Heart And He Collapsed In A Pool Of Blood, The Report Said. He Was Taken To Hospital But Died There.

The Manufacturer Of The Phone Was Notified And Dispatched Experts To Jinta To Conduct An Investigation. qna 1906 Gmt 2007/07/03<

mmm. I wonder; who called...?

At work.

Breast pocket.

Phone facing forwards.

Spark.

Heat.

Called.

Cheapy imitation battery.

That's 7 reasons why.

..so you're ruling out suicide?

High temps+lithium polymer in pressurized container=

Well, let me be the first to say RIP to the poor soul and kind thoughts to his family.

I thought there would have been a little more sympathy here for the young guy.

That's quite worrying seing as I keep my cell phone in my trouser pocket. Even more worrying is the fact that most Li-ions used here on CPF are significantly larger than a cell phone battery.

Wow! Don't have a cell phone but thats really something! Poor guy!

hey I'm as sensitive as the next guy, but look, not only didn't I know the guy, but he's one of a billion Chinese I don't know either (well maybe a few)
and the Chinese don't seem to take it too seriously either; saying he was "the first" to die in a cell phone battery explosion accident..what does that mean? that they expect a few hundred more before they do anything about it?

is this just another 'cost of doing business' of technology?
look what happened to the first American to die in a car accident;
no one seems to have cared much about that either -- after that they made Pintos for years! and now the highway death toll is up to 50,000 a year, (with 250,000 maimed yearly)-- but that's OK..? because... why?

and my heart goes out to each and everyone of them..big difference that makes.

Well I feel bad for the guy too. And I don't think it's a view of callousness that the poster meant. Driving a car, carelessly, or being victimed by another, is quite different from operating what society expects to be safe, a cell phone, under normal conditions. If you poke your eye out with it by stabbing your face with its antenna, you can't claim a dangerous product, although some American lawyers would tell you otherwise.

If you buy a pound of ham, and 1 in 100,000 chances, you may be poisoned. Or your child's toy may explode like a Claymore....I'd think you'd scream bloody murder.
This is not the price of doing business, unacceptable in this day and age.

Most cell phone Li-Ion batteries are single celled...not series connected. So the likelihood is low, and somewhat surprising.

I think this incident will help shake up China's industries for the better.
All the bad products, food, etc, most disturbing. It has altered my shopping habits.

Well, as far as I know a lithium secondary battery is supposed to be designed with safety vents that rupture to prevent an explosion. I didn't know a battery could reach sufficient internal pressure to produce that kind of shrapnel. You'd think the end cap would just blow off.

I wonder if there might have been some other explanation? Like a welding spark melting into his butane lighter or some other hazmat?

Hope the final result of their investigation is published.

This story sounds extremely unlikely. Li-Ion / Li-Po batts can go off with a very nasty bang if mistreated, and cheapo Chinese knockoff cell-phones may lack the safety features we take for granted, but for a small battery to explode with sufficient force to smash a rib and drive it back into the guys chest and right through his heart? I don't think so.

Am I the only one who thinks that "the first death believed to be caused by a cell phone battery" sounds an awful lot like "Yeah, them batteries explode a lot, but no one ever died"?

elgar, I agree, but the word "first" to me seems to add the component;
"...and there'll be quite a few more deaths before the cost-benefit analysis causes any action to be taken about it.."

It's kinda like saying "..so and so got married last Sunday, for the first time, to..." ...it implies it won't be the last time..you know?

This incident was reported in the newspapers here as well, and the article I read stated that the phone involved was a Motorola. The article went on to elaborate that the Motorola office there has started investigating, and have cited either a fake phone or aftermarket battery as possible reasons for the mishap pending the outcome of the investigation.

Seems suspicious a battery that small shouldn't posses enough energy to snap a rib and puncture into someone's heart, unless they had serious regenerative problems. Being a welder I doubt thats the case. Being a welder though could lead to the fact that maybe a welding accident, tons of stuff can go wrong with any type of welding, basic problem is huge amounts of heat and molten steel.