Korean man killed by exploding cellphone

South Korea, which has already seen two people supposedly struck by lightning drawn to their cellphones, has now experienced its first death due to an exploding handset battery. According to the AP, a quarry worker was found dead Wednesday with the remnants of an LG mobile melted into his shirt pocket, much like the welder who died under similar tragic circumstances this summer in China. For its part, while acknowledging that one of its phones was indeed the culprit, LG reportedly claimed that dying due to such an accident was "virtually impossible."

[Image courtesy of Yonhap News, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 28th 2007 3:07PM]

struck by "lightening" drawn to their cellphones,

= "lightning"

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 28th 2007 3:25PM]

i believe mythbusters did test something like this but they used piercing instead of cellphone. this calls for a new test.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 28th 2007 4:59PM]

I bet right now terrorists are extremely interested in LG cell phones.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 28th 2007 6:28PM]

LGs next product intercontinental ballistic cell phones. Although, if they spun this the right way, it could do wonders for them. I can see it now: (in my best infomercial voice)"Do you worry about the inevitable robot uprising? Sleep easy with LGs new anti-robot cell phone. Simply pull out the antenna, give it a good shake, dial 911 and throw it in the general direction of any hostile electronics. The built in detonator will trigger the area of effect autodamage mechanism(shrapnel for the technically inclined). As an added bonus this phone also works on zombies, overlords of various types, and it plays Doom!

Warning! This product does not blend. Any attempts at blending may result in immediate death and damage to the surrounding area. Not for sale to CA, NJ, NY, or where prohibited by law."

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 29th 2007 12:11PM]

um, sounds like season 1 of 24.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 28th 2007 8:41PM]

I don't get this why are ppl just blaming LG for the exploding phone? All lithium batteries have 100% chance of exploding when exposed to extreme heat. I mean this could've happened with Samsung, Mortoloa, HTC, god forbid even Iphone. BAkA!

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 28th 2007 10:45PM]

Seriously, there's no way a cellphone would just "explode".

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 29th 2007 3:10AM]

Here's are some better articles on the explosion. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/11/117_14581.html
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200711/200711290014.html

[parisv Posted Nov 29th 2007 5:51AM]

Oh o, I just bought the LG viewty!!!

[Davidx Posted Nov 29th 2007 9:05AM]

I heard that the cause of death was that the impact of the explosion was enough to cause a shock to the heart.

[jmcloughlin Posted Nov 30th 2007 11:49AM]

@ CaliforniaKid

Or it could be this:

LG Viewty. It'll BLOW YOU AWAY.


Small Print on bottom of box: Batteries Made in Japan by Sony Corp.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 1st 2007 7:08PM]

This is actually proven to be manslaughter, as the phone was melted into his skin...

or so some south Koreans have been saying

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 4th 2007 7:24AM]

KILLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! BLAAAAAAAAAAAAH!