Mobile phones catching fire or bursting into flames is something that is reported nowadays. One such incident was reported in Bengaluru involving a Redmi Note 4 and reportedly a video of the same exploding was released on some platforms as well.
Xiaomi investigated the incident thoroughly and it was found that the fire was caused by using a faulty third-party charger. The company also provided the customer with a brand-new phone. The video that was shared was found to be fake.
The company revealed that through its investigation, they found the CCTV video originated in Anamangad in Kerala and that it is not a Xiaomi phone at all. Furthermore, they stated that the date in the video did not correspond to the date of purchase made by the customer in Bangalore.
Xiaomi condemned the blog that spread the fake video as it was misleading and hampered their reputation greatly. The founder of the blog Explode.com who posted the video on its website was later found telling Gadgets 360 about the incident and how the customer from Bengaluru who had originally submitted the video, went back on his word after receiving the replacement.
The blog was later seen to make changes to the article stating that Xiaomi had provided the replacement and that the video did not belong to this particular customer.
For safety reasons, Xiaomi always suggests using Xiaomi-authorised chargers and accessories.
Another explosion, another Xiaomi phone!
Only a few days later, another similar incident of a Note 4 exploding was reported in East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh.
The owner of the smartphone Bhavana Suryakiran reported that he had suffered serious injuries due to the phone exploding in his pocket. He had purchased the phone only 3 weeks ago and was very disappointed and even wanted to take a legal course of action against Xiaomi and Flipkart as he believed the unit to be faulty.
Xiaomi, like any other case, investigated this issue as well. Their preliminary reports revealed that the damage was caused due to external pressure being applied which could be seen from the back cover and battery being bent as well as the screen being damaged. They made sure to carry out further investigations to find out the exact reason for the damage being caused.
The company has also urged its valuable customers to not try puncturing or opening the phone on their own or applying too much pressure. They have also suggested not to get the phones repaired from local shops and only to get it done from authorised service centres to reduce the risk of such occurrences.
Another one bites the dust, this time too tragically!
Very recently, however, a very tragic and saddening incident occurred where a little girl of 8 years died due to a phone exploding.
The incident was reported in Kerala’s Thrissur. The girl named Adithyashree who was in the 3rd standard at Christ New Life School in Tiruvilvamala, succumbed to her injuries after the phone exploded and disfigured her face.
It was around 10.30 pm when she was using the mobile phone to watch videos and the device suddenly exploded.
Investigations so far have revealed that the incident perhaps occurred due to severe heating caused by extensive use.
As per the Times of India, the grandmother of Adithyashree was in the adjacent room when she heard a loud blast and hurried into the room only to find her beloved granddaughter lying in a pool of blood with her face badly disfigured.
It was found that the phone was 3 years old and its battery had recently been replaced which could be one of the reasons for the explosion. It is unclear as to whether the replacement battery was an official one or not and could only be concluded after further investigation.
Xiaomi released a statement where they expressed their condolences and offered to be beside the family with any kind of support they needed. They expressed that the safety of the customers is of utmost priority at the company that such severe incidents are taken extremely seriously and that the recent events are being investigated in cooperation with the authorities.
Xiaomi is always known to conduct thorough investigations and take appropriate steps in lieu of the findings and the same is expected to happen this time. However, the loss of such an innocent life at such a young age is really a very sad thing to come across and could lead to a lot of concerns about the overuse of mobiles and whether companies are compromising the safety of the devices.
May Adithyashree rest in peace and nobody else has to suffer the same unfortunate fate.