Stories of e-cigarettes exploding and setting people on fire aren’t new. Granted they aren’t particularly common, but it does happen frequently enough to give one pause. Recently CCTV footage has been released in which it shows the moment an e-cigarette exploding in the pocket of its owner.
The incident took place in France where the man in question, Amine Britel, was standing outside a nightclub he owned and smoking when suddenly the device starts to spark inside of his jacket pocket in a fiery explosion. According to Britel, “All of a sudden I heard a loud bang and a noise like a flare had gone off, only ten times louder. And after the shock of the explosion, I realised that I had caught fire. I did not really understand what was happening to me. The pain only came afterwards.”
He was taken to the emergency room where doctors found that due to the explosion, it caused some pretty major burns to the right side of his abdomen. He is expected to undergo several weeks of treatment. According to Britel, he suspects that the battery might have come into contact with some coins in his pocket that could have somehow caused the sparks and explosion.
He also plans on suing the Chinese brand that made the battery. “I bought the battery in a local shop in Toulouse, but I have nothing against them. But I’m a little upset about the Chinese brand, who could have been clearer about the risks that users are facing.”