Pages

Friday, August 30, 2013

iPhone 5 charger explodes, causes blackout in Guangzhou

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2013-08-30

iPhone chargers. (File photo/Wang Ying-hao)

An iPhone 5 charger exploded and caused a blackout at a company in Guangzhou on Thursday, according to local news website ycwb.com.

A staff member at the company surnamed Li plugged in the charger for her white iPhone 5 on Thursday morning. The charger promptly blew up and sparks came out of the place where the two devices connected. Li quickly pulled her hands away but her fingertips were turned black by the considerable smoke produced by the sparks.

The overload caused the power supply to the whole company to shut down. Burn marks could be seen on the phone's USB connector, the charger and a power socket beneath Li's desk. The smartphone and the socket survived the explosion, however.

Li said Apple staff had contacted her to ask for her smartphone's serial number and to ascertain whether she was using a standard Apple charger. Li says she has not had any reply since then.

In July, A 23-year-old flight attendant named Ma Ailun from Xinjiang in northwestern China died when she was electrocuted while using her iPhone 4S as it was charging from a non-authenticated charger. Her death has been attributed to the charger itself, which may have been manufactured with inferior materials leading to an electricity surge going directly into the iPhone battery. A similar case was also reported in Beijing, where a man surnamed Wu remains in a coma after being electrocuted by his charging iPhone 4S.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.