Shopper left pantless as phone catches fire in his pocket

It still unclear what caused smartphone to catch fire


Tech Desk March 25, 2017
A man was left pant less after his smartphone catches fire in his pocket while shopping at Costco, a membership warehouse club. PHOTO COURTESY: KOMO NEWS

A man in Washington State, United States had to shed his pants in a supermarket when his cellphone abruptly caught fire in his pocket, witnesses said.

Talking to KOMO News, an eyewitness Everett Tyrrell said, “There was so much smoke. And there were two or three people who had a fire extinguisher. They were trying to help him.”

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According to Tyrrell, he was shopping when he noticed smoke arising out of a corner. When he went around the corner following the smoke to the hardware aisle of the store, Tyrrell found a shopper without his pants.

“I was kind of worried about the guy. I guess his pants were affected by the phone or caught on fire,” he added. Tyrrell said the customer was pointing at the fire smouldering on the phone. The customer told Tyrrell that it was an LG smartphone.

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A store manager, who went to the scene, said he found the victim with his pants off and a cell phone on the ground. The manager added that a store employee had used a fire extinguisher on the phone.

Fortunately, the customer did not sustain any injuries. The store provided the man with a new pair of pants, the manager said.

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It's still unclear what caused the smartphone to catch fire.

This is not the first time a smartphone has caught fire. Last year, Samsung had to recall its flagship device Galaxy Note 7 due to faulty batteries which caused some devices to explode and catch fire.

This article originally appeared on KOMO News

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