A woman suffered burns when a smart phone accidentally caught fire while it was in one of the pockets of her jean on Friday afternoon.
The victim was identified as Ms Rungrat Thiromsook, 19, who lives in a house in Village 7, Tambon Nong Ngu Louem, Nakhon Pathom’s Muang district.
A worker at a machine shop near Wat Thung Ree, Ms Rungrat later told officials that she was sitting in the shop when the phone in her jean’s pocket vibrated as if a message came. But, she said, she felt it was hot in the pocket and thought about getting the phone out of the pocket.
Then she saw smoke emitting from the pocket but still could not grab the phone as she felt the heat in the pocket became unbearable. So she screamed for help from her co-workers nearby who rushed to her rescue and managed to rip open the pocket, resulting in the burning phone to fall out.
Ms Rungrat was then rushed to Sanam Chan hospital where she was treated for burns on her four right fingers, the left thumb, right side of the stomach and a leg.
Later on, the director of Suphan Buri office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, Mr Pongsakorn Kaewchannua visited the victim at her house to make an enquiry.
He said that it was the responsibility of the NBTC to look into the case and to look after the consumer when there was such a case. He added that he would inform the NBTC head office in Bangkok to contact the dealer of the smart phone in question in order to claim compensation for the victim.
