MUMBAI: In a freak incident, the mobile phone of a man having lunch in a
Mulund restaurant suddenly exploded in his
shirt pocket on Tuesday afternoon.
The Bhandup
police are trying to trace the victim, identified as Sunil Kate. It is not known if he had suffered any injury in the incident.
CCTV footage retrieved from Hotel Bagicha, which has gone viral on social media, shows Kate having lunch around 2.30pm. He suddenly stands up on noticing smoke coming out of his shirt pocket, removes his phone and flings it on the ground even as staffers and other patrons rush out of the way. Kate then picks up his other phone from the table.
“No one has filed a complaint; we have made a diary entry and are making inquiries into the incident,” said a police officer. “We want to sent the mobile phone to the forensic lab to find out the cause for the explosion.”
Cellphone explosions mostly occur due to overheating of circuit boards though almost every manufacturer now adds several precautions to prevent such incidents. It is advised to not keep the phone under direct sunlight and switch it off if it gets unusually warm—background apps and services, faulty battery, flashlight mode on, or poor network reception could cause the phone to overheat. It is also advisable not to leave the phone to charge overnight and avoid making calls while charging the device. In case the handset gets wet, power it down immediately, dry the exterior wi-th a soft, absorbent cloth—don’t use a hair dryer—and take it to a service centre.
(Representative image)