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Man seriously hurt after e-cigarette explodes in pants pocket

A man was seriously injured after an e-cigarette exploded in his pants pocket, burning a hole through the fabric.

The 28-year-old Belgian man was hospitalised after his electronic cigarette exploded in his pocket and released a 25cm high flame up his right side.

The man, named Gilles, told local media he is still “in shock” after the incident which occurred in the town of Charleroi in southwest Belgium.

He was on the street, walking to vote in local elections with his father, when the explosion occurred.

“It really happened at once. I heard some kind of ‘tack’ sound in my pocket,” Gilles said.

Gilles' pants (pictured) caught on fire when his e-cigarette exploded in his pants pocket.
The damage after Gilles’ pants (pictured) caught on fire. Source: CEN/Australscope

“I have always been careful to buy my devices in shops and not on the internet, because I know that on the web you can sometimes come across bad equipment.

“The battery that exploded came from a shop in France.”

His father witnessed the incident.

“I saw a big flame come out of his trousers,” Gilles’ father said.

The burns from the explosion were so bad that Gilles had a skin graft to cover up his badly-burned thigh.

Gilles was hospitalised with burns (pictured)
Gilles was hospitalised with burns (pictured). Source: CEN/Australscope

With his right leg and hand bandaged, Gilles is recovering in the burns unit of local Charleroi Grand Hospital.

It is not known if the man has filed a complaint against the store or company that manufactures the e-cigarette.

It’s not the first time trousers have exploded. A man was badly injured after a truck tyre he was working on exploded with such force it “disintegrated” another man’s pants in Sydney’s northwest in 2017.

With Australscope