Galaxy S4 bursts in flames while gaming, Hong Kong man claims, fire spreads to house and Mercedes

posted by Daniel P.

Jul 30, 2013, 4:07 AM

Galaxy S4 bursts in flames while gaming, Hong Kong man claims, fire spreads to house and Mercedes

A Hong Kong guy claims his Galaxy S4 burst into flames while he was gaming on the couch, startling him and forcing him to throw it under the sofa, which caught up fire in its turn, along with the curtains.

He quickly ran out of the house with his wife and pets, only to see the home incinerated to the walls, and the fire spreading out to the Mercedes that was parked next to the building.

While previous spontaneous combustion cases with the Galaxy S III and iPhones turned out to be caused by third party batteries or chargers, and Apple even issued a warning against using those, the Hong Kong man claims his Galaxy S4 was with the battery and charger it was packaged with.

What's not entirely clear is whether the S4 itself wasn't a counterfeit unit, as the man seems to have bought it from someone else, not to mention that the whole story starts from what appears to be a rather flammable couch, but, hey, the man was playing "Love Machine" on the device, after all.

Samsung Hong Kong has apparently already said it will investigate the matter, and do some chemical analysis magic to determine whether the S4 and its components were genuine, and were the real reason for the incident reported, so we'll keep an eye on the developments.