Power Bank Explodes Beside Sleeping Woman Even When Not Charging

A Thai woman nearly found herself trapped in fire after her power bank exploded beside her while she was asleep.

In a Facebook post last week, the woman said she left the device beside her and went to sleep. She woke up coughing around 5 a.m. and saw rising smoke around her as high as 7 inches. She extinguished the fire and saw that the power bank had exploded. According to the woman, the device was not being charged when it exploded.

“Be sure to buy from trusted stores only," she wrote. "It wasn’t being charged, it was just lying on the floor,” she said.

The photo showed a charred and crumbling power bank after the explosion. The post has since gone viral with several users trying to reason the incident. Some said that the device must have exploded due to short-circuit after overcharging.

The incident comes a few months after a portable power bank exploded in a passenger’s bag at Thailand’s Chiang Mai International Airport. CCTV footage showed flames emerging from the traveler’s backpack. The passenger then threw the bag on the ground. The device fell from the backpack and the flames immediately disappeared.