Man killed by mobile phone explosion
By Justin S. Tibenda – 23rd–29th Aug 2010
A man has been killed after the mobile phone he was using exploded. The victim, 23-year-old Gopal Gujjar, suffered serious injuries to his right ear, neck and shoulders.
There were no witnesses to the incident but it was assumed he was talking on his Nokia mobile phone when the blast happened in the northern state of Rajasthan- India.
His body was found along with the remains of the phone and battery near his farm in Banda village, Kota. Police believe he was killed by the device after discovering pieces of the Nokia 1209 handset, a basic model released in August 2008, scattered nearby.
The victim had gone into a forest to tend to his grazing cattle around noon and his body was recovered later that night. The Times of India said it was probably the first incident in the country where a mobile phone had exploded while it was not being charged.
In January this year, a 27-year-old housewife in Kadapa was killed while she was talking to her husband using a Chinese-made mobile and charging it at the same time. Deaths due to mobile phone explosions have been reported in countries such as China, South Korea and Nepal. The South Korean incident was however later exposed as a hoax.
