14-year-old girl dies after her charging smartphone battery explodes

Forensic experts said the mobile phone exploded early in the morning, after overheating as it was ch

BASTOBE (Web Desk) – A 14-year-old girl died after her smartphone exploded near her pillow due to overheating while charging, according to reports.

According to BGR, Alua Asetkyzy Abzalbek went to bed listening to music with her phone resting at her pillow in her village home in Bastobe, Kazakhstan. She was asleep when her phone caught fire while getting charged and resulted in an explosion.

Alua was found dead the next morning, with police believing that she suffered severe head injuries that likely killed her immediately. 

Relatives called paramedics but she was unable to be resuscitated. It is understood she had been dead for some time. Police confirmed that her device had been plugged in to a power socket at the time.

Forensic experts said the mobile phone exploded near her head early in the morning, after overheating as it was charged. The brand of the smartphone wasn’t disclosed.

Her friend Ayazhan Dolasheva posted a tribute to Alua on social media.

“It is so hard for me without you. I miss you so much,” she wrote, according to local media reports.

The Galaxy Note 7 was the world’s first and only smartphone deemed to be a fire hazard because of poor battery design and quality control. Samsung took immediate steps to recall and redesign the battery as reports of Note 7 fires kept piling up, before canceling the phone altogether. In the year that followed, Samsung announced a new battery safety program that would ensure what happened with the Note 7 wouldn’t occur again.

Note 7 explosions, however, never caused any fatalities. Smartphones from other vendors, Apple included, also made the news for explosions caused by faulty batteries, although those were isolated incidents.

As always, it’s best to avoid placing a phone on the bed while it’s charging to prevent overheating.