Samsung store catches fire day before Galaxy S8 launch

A Samsung outlet in Singapore caught fire this morning, a day ahead of the South Korean electronic giant's launch of its hyped Galaxy S8.

According to reports, a fire broke out at the storeroom of Samsung Experience Store in AMK Hub in the early hours of Tuesday morning.



Although the blaze was quickly put out by water sprinklers and no one was hurt, it caused surrounding stores in the shopping mall to temporarily close for safety reasons and cleaning. The cause of the fire is still unknown.


Confirming the incident, a Samsung rep told Mashable via email, “We are currently assessing the property damage and working closely with the authorities to determine the cause of the fire.” He added that the store will remain temporarily closed during this period and regretted any inconvenience caused by the incident.



Whatever the reason is, it does not look good for the company especially after they were forced to withdraw millions of devices following the Note 7 fiasco. In November last year, Samsung also recalled around two million washing machines after reports of explosions.

Samsung's reputation took a hammering after it announced a recall of fire-prone Note 7s, only for reports to emerge that replacement devices also caught fire. Images of melted Samsung devices spread on social media and airlines banned travellers from carrying them on flights. The handset, Samsung's answer to Apple Inc's iPhones, was withdrawn from sale in October less than two months after its launch, in one of the biggest failures in tech history.

John Oliver famously lampooned the recalls on Last Week Tonight, producing a hilarious fake ad showing a wide range of Samsung products blowing up.


This article originally appeared on Mashable