For many Singaporeans, their handphone is an indispensable device they use every hour of the day unless they are sleeping.
Such heavy usage would mean that almost everyone would’ve had to charge their phone while using it at the same time.
Unfortunately, this practice led to near disaster for a Singaporean woman when her phone charger exploded while she was using it.
Photo for illustration purposes only. Source: Andreas Haslinger on Unsplash
She ended up suffering burns on her hand.
The scary incident happened to Ms Liang, a 51-year-old Singaporean living in Melbourne, Australia.
She was chatting with a friend over a video call on Thursday (16 Jun), reported Lianhe Zaobao.
However, she soon discovered that her phone was almost out of battery, so she did what many of us would do — plug in a charger, and continue doing what we were doing.
She then left it on the sofa to charge.
As she continued chatting with her friend, the phone charger suddenly exploded and caught fire.
Worse still, Ms Liang’s long-sleeved shirt and sweater also started burning.
She instinctively did what may not have been advisable: slapped her clothes with her right hand to try to put out the fire.
Her clothes ended up being damaged anyway.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
Worried that the sofa would catch fire and spread to her apartment, Ms Liang then took quick action.
She picked a sheet, wrapped her phone and charger in it, and then used the water in her daughter’s kettle nearby to extinguish the fire.
The contents were then taken to the bathroom, where water from the shower head was used to douse the remaining flames.
It was only after the fire was put out that Ms Liang realised that her hand had suffered burns.
Large and swollen blisters appeared, and her daughter had to apply ointment and a bandage to it.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
The next day, she went to a doctor, who told her that she had first-to-second-degree burns.
Her hand is now bandaged to allow the wound to heal, and she has to monitor whether any infection occurs, she told Zaobao.
Ms Liang said the phone charger that exploded was a Christmas gift from a friend.
She had bought it from Shopee, she added.
Thus, she was surprised that the charger could explode, and like at the time of the incident, she’s still wondering how this could happen.
Now, she has to deal with her lingering fear, adding,
Fortunately, my face and hair were not burnt, otherwise the injury would have been more serious.
Charging one’s devices daily is now an inescapable part of life.
However, as fires due to short circuits during charging have reportedly happened, perhaps it’s a good idea not to use the device while it’s being charged.
We wish Ms Liang a quick recovery from her injuries and trauma.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Lianhe Zaobao and Andreas Haslinger on Unsplash. For illustration purposes only.
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