One of Samsung's shiny flagship smartphones — the GALAXY S4, has been reported to have caught fire and gutted down a Hong Kong apartment, leaving the owners homeless. China's Xianguo news agency has published pictures of firefighters trying to put out flames in a completely burnt, crisp-as-a-toast house, with blackened walls and charred belongings. The SGS4 is nowhere to be seen in the ruins.
The website mentions that the owner identified only as Mr Du, was sitting on the living room sofa, playing the game "Love Machine" (we hope that is what it means, pardon our weak Chinese or just blame it on Google!) on his SGS4 as it was charging, before it suddenly exploded. Du then instinctively threw away the burning device, which served as a source of the events that followed. Surprisingly, nobody is reported to be injured, neither the owner, in whose is said to be using the phone when it exploded, nor his wife or dogs, but almost everything in the flat has been reduced to ashes. This does make the claim sound suspicious, but the fire department investigation result reports "no suspicious circumstances". Samsung is yet to respond to the incident, but has said that it will carry out detailed investigations.
It was only a few weeks ago that a Chinese woman was reportedly electrocuted by a charging iPhone that she was using, leading her family to file a court case against Apple seeking damages. The devices and accessories used in both the above incidents were said to be legitimate and not some cheap third-party Chinese versions. Incidentally, this is the third incident involving a Samsung mobile, giving rise to doubts about the consumer safety norms being followed by the Korean manufacturer.
