Be careful when charging your phones A phone battery explosion causes the death of an entire family of 4 in Spain + video
A mobile phone that was charging on a sofa on the ground floor of a house caused the fire that killed four members of a family in Žilina, Seville, Spain, last Sunday. This is the conclusion reached by the Spanish Civil Guard after completing a visual technical inspection inside the house. Although the police investigation initially pointed to a charging electric scooter as a possible cause of the fire, specialists from the Civil Guard District Fire Brigade ruled out this hypothesis after tests carried out yesterday in the house.
The origin of the fire was therefore electrical but it was not focused on the scooter, but on the explosion and burning of a cell phone battery that was being charged and placed on a sofa. The fire started as soon as the cell phone exploded and spread very quickly throughout the house, a two-storey semi-detached house with a roof terrace located at number 20 Fernando Martin Street. There were objects that helped spread, such as the scooter itself, which was found burned, or several boxes.
The fire started around 8 a.m. Sunday. The first call received by the regional firefighters was at 8:45 a.m. Three teams arrived, two from Santiponce Park and one from El Ronquillo. When they arrived, the fire was fully engulfed, with flames coming out of the windows and a large amount of smoke. The professionals could do nothing to save the family's life.
Several neighbors tried to enter to rescue the four trapped people, but it was completely impossible. One of them tried to cut the bars of the ground floor with a radial knife, but to no avail. Others tried to open the door, but it was an armored door and could not be opened either. All the windows were barred and the house became impossible to enter. Some had keys, but the victims could not open them, either because they could not find them properly or because with the high temperature inside the house, the metals bend and cannot be used.
Firefighters found the bodies of the couple, José Antonio Rendón, 47, and Antonia Hidalgo, 52, on the first floor. On the ground floor were the children Adrian, 16, and José Antonio, 20. A neighbor claims that the latter arrived at the house as the fire was raging, after spending the night outside, and entered to try to save his parents. If so, he went straight to certain death. All four died from smoke inhalation. The couple were most affected by the fire, which burned them after they suffocated to death, while the bodies of the two brothers were not burned.
The four deceased from Žilina were buried around 9 pm yesterday in the municipal cemetery, after a huge funeral held in the municipal sports hall Christian Hernández, at 7 pm. The pavilion was too small to say goodbye to this beloved family of Žilina, and there were thousands of people who passed for the first time through the church embracing the relatives of the deceased and giving them a word of comfort.
Signs that your mobile phone may explode while charging If you see them, act quickly