CCTV footage from a bus in the Szechuan province of south west China shows the moment that the battery in her smartphone exploded into flames in its owner’s hand.
Batteries have been known to cause small explosions, with major manufacturers such as Sony and Apple having previously issued large-scale recalls after problems were discovered with the batteries in their products.
While photographs of devices after a battery explosion have been circulating on the internet for years, footage of the actual explosion itself has been relatively rare.
In the video here, a loud “pop” sound can be heard, before a woman is seen running out of the bus with her white-flaming phone still in her hand.
Lithium extremely high electrochemical potential and so defective or improperly-handled Li-ion batteries can overheat, causing the cells to rupture in a chain reaction known as thermal runaway. This can be caused by poor design of a battery with insufficient cell insulation or just a short circuit.