By Stevie Smith Nov 29, 2007, 11:02 GMT
The safety of mobile phone batteries is being called into question again this week following the death of a South Korean man who was found dead with a melted handset in his shirt pocket.
Reports suggest that the as-yet unnamed 33-year-old man was working at a quarry in Cheongwon County in North Chungcheong Province (approximately 135km south of Seoul) when the battery cell in his LG-made phone exploded, fatally puncturing his chest.
A work colleague of the deceased man said that he found the victim bleeding from the nose with a sooty imprint in the shape of a phone burned onto his shirt. According to a related BBC article, a doctor at Chungbuk National University Hospital commented that the deceased had sustained burns on his chest along with fractures to his ribs and spine and also haemorrhaging in his lungs.
"Considering all these factors," added doctor Kim Hun, "it seems that high pressure from an explosion damaged his lungs and heart, leading to his death."
Phone manufacturer LG has commented that the cell would have been subjected to extensive testing prior to retail release and that all of its lithium-ion battery packs are approved by independent agencies.
"We confirm that the handset which is presumed to be involved in the incident is manufactured and sold only in Korea," added LG, while also outlining that it cannot comment further due to the probe launched by Korean police and also the National Institute of Scientific Investigation (Nisi).
South Korean authorities are in the process of investigating the death following a similar incident that took place in the Gansu region of China over the summer, which saw a welder die when his cell phone exploded while at work.
However, unlike the Gansu incident, which was attributed to the man working in close proximity to extremely high temperatures, local Korean media sources suggest that the recent quarry death took place on a cold day.
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