Exploding phone battery not blamed for Korean's death

This certainly won't be the first time that an exploding cellphone battery has been pegged with blame before all the facts shook out, but now it seems that the South Korean worker who perished yesterday was in fact not killed by his mobile. Reportedly, the National Institute of Scientific Investigation "said the injuries were too substantial to have been caused by a battery explosion," and an unnamed medical examiner was quoted as saying that it was "difficult to conclude that the damage of internal organs was caused by [the explosion]." Details are still likely to unfold in the coming weeks, as it will be about a fortnight before autopsy results are analyzed and a final conclusion is drawn. Seems that "virtually impossible" notion from LG may be accurate after all, eh?

[Image courtesy of Yonhap News]

[Alan @ Nov 29th 2007 11:02AM]

There is what, a billion cell phones out there? If this was a real problem, it would happen more often. But statisically, things will happen to make it look like the phone killed someone.
My guess is that cell phone "exploded" scared the guy and gave him a heart attack.

[m @ Nov 29th 2007 11:15AM]

so we also learn that the man had apparently fatal damage to his internal organs. if not from the phone that did in fact explode in his shirt pocket, how is this supposed to have happened? let's not forget how important the manufacture of cellphones is to the korean economy, and how much political influence powerful corporations like samsung and lg have always had in that country (and their history of corruption!). we should be more skeptical here.

[Flashpoint @ Nov 29th 2007 11:36AM]

The battery didn't kill him...

IT WAS THE "UNASSISTED FALL"

[Grant @ Nov 29th 2007 12:49PM]

"if not from the phone that did in fact explode in his shirt pocket, how is this supposed to have happened?"

exactly, a simultaneous small weapons explosion occurred directly next to him at the same exact time as the cell phone explosion, with all the evidence of this event evaporating... it was the most perfect coincidence EVER!!!

"let's not forget how important the manufacture of cellphones is to the korean economy, and how much political influence powerful corporations like samsung and lg have always had in that country (and their history of corruption!)"

largest companies in a country when the majority of the government is corrupt, they NEVER have any political influence!

In all seriousness m, i completely agree with you. Why anyone would trust a story like this coming out of Korea really makes me wonder what the gullibility factor around here is.

[Brad @ Nov 29th 2007 2:17PM]

Maybe whatever killed him (a large jolt of electricity, for example) could have also caused his cellphone to melt. Correlation is not causation, didn't you learn that in like...middle school?

[brad @ Nov 29th 2007 11:07AM]

I still think he called the Wong number....and faced the consequences

[blade417 @ Nov 29th 2007 11:13AM]

haha!

Can you hear me now?
....
No?
....
I'll teach you not to hear me!

[Greenteacookiedough @ Nov 29th 2007 3:54PM]

I heard that he was hit by a car...

[wslcrew @ Nov 29th 2007 2:44PM]

Korean newspapers are saying the guy was hit by a car driven by of his colleagues. That person then faked the explosion to avoid conviction.

[John Moffett @ Nov 29th 2007 11:13AM]

Or LG paid off the coroner. More likely the scenario.

[Rocketboy @ Nov 29th 2007 11:32AM]

Or, maybe there's more to the story.

Naa, it must have been the neo-cons. Nothing ever happens without someone paying someone else off.

[monot @ Nov 29th 2007 11:34AM]

According to the most recent news, the man was killed by a construction vehicle by his co-worker. The driver, who killed the man, made up the whole story...

[Rocketboy @ Nov 29th 2007 11:39AM]

Let me guess, you work for the Cell Phone cartel.

/jk/

[monot @ Nov 29th 2007 11:42AM]

haha. nope. I'm a graduate student in the States who can read Korean newspaper :) Here is the new I read - read it by yourself if you can :)
http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/11/29/2007112901157.html

[xeijix @ Nov 29th 2007 11:34AM]

It's all a coverup! ..or an accident. But we clearly have proof that Ice Bullets are real. He was assassinated by an ice bullet, but back splash from the melting bullet penetrated the cellphone and short circuited the battery.

[Rocketboy @ Nov 29th 2007 11:38AM]

Please tell me that this is a bad attempt at a joke. We all know that there is NO SUCH THING as an ice bullet. Or at least, one that actually works as a bullet.

[Kizorblade @ Nov 29th 2007 12:01PM]

ZOOM! Sarcasm just flew right over your head!

[Chris Macdonald @ Nov 29th 2007 3:03PM]

and then melted without a trace :D

[Rocketboy @ Nov 29th 2007 9:33PM]

Hey, with all of the nutjobs (exibit 1: Truthers),you can't blame me for being on my guard.

[Steppin' Razor @ Nov 29th 2007 11:51AM]

Or you can hit this link for a translated version.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ko&u=http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/11/29/2007112901157.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/11/29/2007112901157.html%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DRC7

[CraigJ @ Nov 29th 2007 11:52AM]

Wow, you don't see the word fortnight very often.

[Andy @ Nov 29th 2007 12:03PM]

I believe this falls under the
NO SHIT SHERLOCK category

[FearlessFreep @ Nov 29th 2007 12:09PM]

That Google Korean translator obviously leaves a lot to be desired. But it is funny - the first translated paragraph reads ...

"Mobile phone battery explosions estimated Kumar (33) died in the first incident, police are investigating a report colleagues who visited the construction vehicles, and killing a cheerleader after it was covered according to the 30 Arab pilgrims planning to apply for an arrest warrant. "

[Grant @ Nov 29th 2007 12:51PM]

i don't give a shit what actually happened now,
tell me more Korean google translator!

[Gus @ Nov 29th 2007 2:12PM]

Sounds like a Heroes episode.

[Brad @ Nov 29th 2007 2:21PM]

You've just discovered where the entire Heroes plot line comes from. Take that, WGA, we know your secret! Badly translated Korean News!

[Kal-El @ Nov 29th 2007 8:42PM]

Haha, the translator is pretty funny. " Mr. Kwon police "(allegedly died)"...ALLEGEDLY died? Lmfao.

[Adam @ Nov 29th 2007 12:11PM]

The first paragraph in that translation is fantatstic

[Paul @ Nov 29th 2007 12:47PM]

I think the first paragraph of that translation says it all nicely:
" Mobile phone battery explosions estimated Kumar (33) died in the first incident, police are investigating a report colleagues who visited the construction vehicles, and killing a cheerleader after it was covered according to the 30 Arab pilgrims planning to apply for an arrest warrant. "

So just remember to always blame the 30 Arab Pilgrims.

[Paul @ Nov 29th 2007 12:47PM]

Wow... it looks like I was way to slow... sorry for the major dupe.

[macona @ Nov 29th 2007 4:15PM]

The casing on most cell phone batteries (Li-Po) is mylar. Like a balloon. When the overload they turn into little silver sausages and then gush flame. Look up lithium polymer explosion.

[skadyster @ Nov 29th 2007 3:06PM]

I think the issue here is that a cell phone battery just doesn't really hold enough energy to break ribs and and his spine. That usually requires massive blunt force trauma of some sort. An explosion that could do that would be more likely to blow a hole in him than to mildly burn him but leave shattered bones. The injuries are more consistent with being hit by something really hard; the ground perhaps, or having something dropped on him, or any number of other things. Something with that much energy could of course also compromise the battery, hence the exploded battery. Or, as its been suggested elsewhere, maybe the battery did explode, causing him to panic and fall a long distance or something. But the key thing is that a battery by itself couldn't cause those injuries.

[Grant @ Nov 29th 2007 4:03PM]

Really?
not enough energy?

you take anything that builds up enough pressure to expand an aluminum casing to a point of explosion and you get fairly small, but powerful bomb. i wold have to disagree, and the explosion of a battery, when kept in a coat pocket, near the rib cage, could definitely break bone. As for the spinal injury, metal shrapnel anyone? it would only have to travel about 3 to 4 inches through nothing but soft tissue if it was near the rib cage.

[shimman @ Nov 29th 2007 12:58PM]

most cellphone batteries are li-polymer and NOT li-ion like sony laptop batteries. because of that it is very difficult to have a properly made li-polymer to be exploded in great scale.

the problem of sony battery (li-ion type) was the metal particle impurities in electrolytes which causes internal shorts that causes overheat of electrolytes which is highly reactive. sony knew this problem about two years ago, but they thought batteries cannot be overheated that much to actually causeing overheat as ultraportables are the choice of laptops in japan

cellphone batteries are mostly (if not all) li-polymer with solid electrolytes so that those batteries can withstand physical impacts far greater than li-ion. only way this type of battery can be exploded is when reactive lithium is exposed to heat & water & oxygen. li-sheets are liminated multiple times to prevent this problem in addition to over charging prevention circuit. even if it happened, the scale of explosion should be far less than what you saw on burning dell.

i heard about exploded li-poly type batteries but most of them were knock-off of usual brands except one or two nokia batteries.

my guess of this case is that the man who died had either heart attact triggered by the fire/explosion, or someone killed him then blamed on the battery as i don't think it is possible to have burning cellphone in the pocket

[archgen @ Nov 29th 2007 3:05PM]

My LG has an Li-Ion battery.

[macona @ Nov 29th 2007 4:18PM]

@archgen: Cell phone battery labels do not differentiate between prismatic (Aluminum cased) and polymer (mylar cased) cells. Simply says Lithium Ion.

[shimman @ Nov 29th 2007 4:33PM]

lithium ion polymer is the full name of most common lithium battery; this is also called polymer, li-polymer. since li-polymer is a type of lithium-ion battery, i guess some still refers it as li-ion rather than polymer.

the way you can tell whether the battery is a traditional lithium-ion or the newer polymer is through the casing of a battery. li-ion has a metal casing & usually in cylinder shape like AA, and the polymer type is usually rectangular type polygon shape with a plastic casing.

this is exactly why hybrid is using lead-acid type rather than lithium which can make hybrid even more fuel efficient.

however, in future, super capacitor and/or bio-fuel cell might replace batteries.

[Pro7 @ Nov 29th 2007 1:33PM]

I'm sure LG payed somebody with power to say that the phone wasn't responsible for the mans death.

[Richard Ahlquist @ Nov 29th 2007 1:34PM]

Lightning?

[Erratics @ Nov 29th 2007 1:47PM]

Maybe the cell phone hit his weak point for MASSIVE DAMAGE

[__redruM @ Nov 29th 2007 2:00PM]

I found it hard to believe that an exploding cell phone battery could actually cause spinal damage. But if a little tiny cell phone battery could do that much damage, think what a laptop battery could do. It would be a f-in claymore with a keyboard.

[pscs @ Nov 29th 2007 2:13PM]

"virtually impossible"?
shocking.

[gravious @ Nov 29th 2007 3:44PM]

When you hover over the text a Google popup displays the original Korean text and a link saying, "Suggest a better translation" to which I replied, "One done by a bilingual Korean-English speaker."

Am I right? Anyone? Anyone? Ah, forget it.

[ShaneM @ Nov 29th 2007 4:33PM]

Ya'll know that Koreans think you can die by leaving the fan on with the window closed at night, right? Whoever thought that this story had an ounce of credibility is pretty gullible.

[wilkmd @ Nov 29th 2007 4:53PM]

Software patents make me sick. How can you patent basic functionality such as "recording one thing while watching another". Outrageous!

I say lynch the morons who grant these patents. They probably line their wallets with kickbacks while the public gets shafted.

[JB @ Nov 29th 2007 5:50PM]

Why, oh why didn't I take the BLUE pill.

[c.Lake @ Nov 29th 2007 8:23PM]

OK.... Then HOW did he die?

[stimr2 @ Nov 29th 2007 11:40PM]

Bascially, the guys co-worker ran him over with an excavator. Than said the phone blew up. In the end LG has no fault in this at all.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2007/11/123_14696.html

[iRobot @ Dec 1st 2007 2:31PM]

Damn! That is SO F*CKED_UP! Also, the web page is missing... Hmmm.

[e1mksp @ Nov 29th 2007 11:41PM]

Guys, check out the best translation... the official english version of chosun.com :)

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200711/200711300015.html