Dodgy Mobiles
Posted: 24 Aug 2003, 15:26
Woman hurt after mobile bursts in flames
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A 33-year-old Dutch woman has sustained slight face and neck burns after her mobile phone burst into flames, the Amsterdam police say.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, happened after the woman dropped her phone in a music store in central Amsterdam. It caught fire when she picked it up and switched it back on, a police spokesman said.
She was treated for superficial burns by an ambulance team that rushed to the scene.
"The battery got hot and then the phone burst into flames. It was a Nokia. We later heard she had used a replacement battery," said Jan Willem van Hofwegen of Fame Music store.
A Nokia spokesman in Helsinki said similar incidents have happened in the past and were always related to faulty batteries from independent electronics manufacturers.
"We've heard about phones that overheated, melted and, in the worst case, exploded," he said.
"In all cases it was caused by a replacement battery which was not a Nokia accessory. The manufacturers violated security requirements which should prevent it from heating up after short circuiting, for instance, after it was dropped."
He could not name any of the battery manufacturers.
The injured woman was not immediately available to comment.
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A 33-year-old Dutch woman has sustained slight face and neck burns after her mobile phone burst into flames, the Amsterdam police say.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, happened after the woman dropped her phone in a music store in central Amsterdam. It caught fire when she picked it up and switched it back on, a police spokesman said.
She was treated for superficial burns by an ambulance team that rushed to the scene.
"The battery got hot and then the phone burst into flames. It was a Nokia. We later heard she had used a replacement battery," said Jan Willem van Hofwegen of Fame Music store.
A Nokia spokesman in Helsinki said similar incidents have happened in the past and were always related to faulty batteries from independent electronics manufacturers.
"We've heard about phones that overheated, melted and, in the worst case, exploded," he said.
"In all cases it was caused by a replacement battery which was not a Nokia accessory. The manufacturers violated security requirements which should prevent it from heating up after short circuiting, for instance, after it was dropped."
He could not name any of the battery manufacturers.
The injured woman was not immediately available to comment.
