Cyclist left with severe burns after iPhone 6 explodes
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A Sydney cyclist has been forced to undergo skin graft surgery after his phone exploded inside his pocket.
Bondi mountain-biker Gareth Clear, 36, was cycling around Manly Dam on Sunday afternoon when he stacked his bike.
Mr Clear fell from his bike, landing on his iPhone 6.
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Moments later he noticed the smell of smoke, and felt a "searing heat".
This was all the warning he received before the phone ignited.
The explosion melted through Mr Clear's shorts and two layers of his skin.
His upper right thigh was so severely burnt he was forced to undergo skin graft surgery at the burns unit of the Royal North Shore Hospital.
Mr Clear said he could see the metal of the phone "bending" and "all the lithium leaking out of the bottom end [of the phone]."
He insisted the accident was a "one-in-a-million" occurrence.
"I hit a part of the phone which pierced the lithium battery and it exploded,” he explained.
"It didn't just spontaneously combust."
It's expected Mr Clear will be house bound for a week, but could take "weeks" to recover fully.
Dr Da-Wei Wang from the UNSW faculty of chemical engineering told the Daily Telegraph that an explosion caused by an impact could be the result of overheating as well as a structural flaw.
Mr Clear had owned the phone for six months.
He said he was told Apple would investigate the incident.
News break – August 2
