ECN Forum Forums Safety Discussion and News Safety News and Product Recalls News report: "Girl burnt by exploding computer"

ThinkGood,
I have always had my doubts about Laptop computers, this just confirms my doubts.
There was a guy in Germany(I think), that recieved serious burns to his Groin and Scrotal area, when the battery in his Lap-top exploded, this was only a few weeks ago.
I wonder if this is the same type of cause, in the case that you have presented?, mind you, it must have been a large explosion to cause injuries like that.
It would pay to find out what Brand of Lap- top was involved in each incident, as this may be a faulty batch of batteries.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 01-17-2003).]

I'd be interested to know the brand also as my wife and I both have IBM Thinkpads.I had never heard of 1 exploding.(any brand).I have heard of people getting burnt by them.Mine gets warm on the bottom but not hot enough to cause burns.
Since he was a foreign official,maybe it was boobytrapped( Dr Anil Sooklal, foreign affairs deputy director-general for Asia and the Middle East)

A yahoo and google search only turned up a mention of NEC recalling exploding laptops in 1993.Surely this computer is not (wasn't)that old.

[This message has been edited by txsparky (edited 01-17-2003).]

I'm wondering what caused this incident. Could it have been a dead short on the battery? NiCd battery packs will deliver a very heavy current when shorted.

How many of these laptop designs incorporate proper fusing to reduce this risk?

My first thought was the battery shorting out as well. I've heard of people putting a 9-volt battery in their pocket and with keys, coins, etc...ouch.