Charging Phone Used For Video Call Explodes, Teen Loses 3 Fingers

A teenager lost three fingers of his hand after his phone exploded in his hand as he was using it while it charged. The incident took place April 15 in Bangalore, capital of the southern Indian state Karnataka, but the 18-year-old remained in hospital as of Wednesday and was set to be discharged later in the week.

The unidentified victim, a construction worker, was on a video call while having lunch with his co-workers when the charging phone exploded. The co-workers did not realize what had happened until the victim started screaming in pain. They noticed the teen’s fingers were severed and there was blood all over the place.

He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital around 4 p.m. local time (6.30 a.m. EDT) where he was admitted in the emergency unit. His surgery, however, was performed only at night, and the doctors were unable to save three fingers of his left hand.

“We started the surgery only by 9 p.m. since we needed him to be on an empty stomach for at least six hours before surgery. The surgery lasted three hours. We tried to save his index finger but it was completely shattered and had to be removed too,” a doctor who performed the surgery told local daily Bangalore Mirror on Wednesday.

The doctor added that a patch of skin from the victim's groin area was used to cover the area from where the fingers were removed.

“It was important to cover the wounded area, else he was at a risk of catching infection,” the doctor said, adding, “He is doing well now and is still in the hospital.”

The phone that exploded was from telecom company Jio, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance, which is owned by Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani. Manufacturing of Jio handsets is mostly outsourced to factories in China.