A 75-year-old man had a narrow escape after a mobile phone which he had kept in his shirt pocket exploded in Thrissur district on Thursday. The victim suffered minor burn injuries on the chest.
According to a report in Deccan Herald, the man was identified as Elyas from Marattichal in Thrissur district.
The CCTV footage of the incident which went viral on social media showed the mobile phone exploding in the pocket of the man and his shirt catching fire. The man was seen immediately jumping off the chair and trying to throw the phone out of his pocket. Once the phone fell down, the shopkeeper rushed to help him. Later, the fire was doused.
The incident took place while he was having tea at a hotel.
The phone was reportedly a local brand mobile phone.
An officer of Ollur police station, under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred in the district, told PTI that the septuagenarian was unhurt. The officer said that on receiving information regarding the incident he had called up the elderly man to find out what happened.
The man told police that he had bought the mobile for Rs 1,000 a year ago and that it was a feature phone. Till now, there were no problems with the device, the man told police according to the officer.
This is the third incident of a mobile phone explosion in the state in less than a month. Last week, a Kozhikode man suffered burn injuries after a mobile phone that he had kept in his trouser pocket exploded.
On April 24, an 8-year-old girl from Thrissur died after her mobile phone exploded while she was using it. The deceased was Adithya Sree. The family had been using the phone for three years and they also changed the battery once at a nearby shop.