A woman in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China, was charging her phone and browsing short videos before bedtime when she accidentally fell asleep. The phone’s lithium battery apparently overheated and experienced “thermal runaway,” igniting her bed and other items in the room. She suffered severe burns over much of her body, with nearly all ten fingers badly injured and her face being certified as Level 9 disabled.
According to Chinese media reports, the Intermediate People’s Court of Dongguan City recently released the second-instance verdict. The incident occurred in the early hours of February 4, 2024, when a rented room in Tongxiao Border Community, Chang’an Town, suddenly caught fire. Although the fire covered only about 1 square meter, it spread rapidly and resulted in the female tenant surnamed Chen being seriously burned.
Investigation showed that the source of the fire was an electronic smartphone used by Ms. Chen. She stated that she bought the phone in August 2021 from an e-commerce platform. On the night of the incident, she lay in bed, charging the phone while watching short videos, and then fell asleep by accident. Suddenly, the phone caught fire, and the intense flames quickly woke her.
Enduring intense pain, she escaped the fire, but both hands, her torso, and limbs were severely burned. Nearly all ten fingers were badly damaged, and her face was also severely injured. Forensic evaluation determined that she suffered two Level 6 disabilities and one Level 9 disability. The initial stage of medical treatment alone cost over 300,000 RMB (about 181,000 MYR), with multiple subsequent surgeries and long-term rehabilitation needed.
An accident investigation report showed classic “thermal runaway” marks on the phone’s lithium battery, confirming it as the direct cause of the fire.
Because negotiations for compensation failed, Ms. Chen later took the phone retailer, landlord, and sub-lessor to court, seeking compensation for medical expenses, future treatment, nursing care, and mental damages, totaling 1.18 million RMB (about 712,000 MYR).
After the first trial, the court determined her total losses to be around 1.0575 million RMB (about 638,000 MYR). The court held that, as she charged and used her phone while lying in bed, she failed to perform the duty of safe use and should bear 40% of the responsibility herself; the phone retailer, for selling a defective product, must bear 60% of the compensation responsibility, about 634,500 RMB (about 382,000 MYR).
In addition, if the retailer cannot fulfill the compensation, the sub-lessor must provide supplemental compensation within a 10% limit.
The retailer appealed, demanding the phone manufacturer be added as a co-defendant, questioning the phone’s authenticity, the reason for the lithium battery thermal runaway, and whether the electrical wiring of the rental room had safety hazards, requesting a new evaluation.
However, the appellate court determined that the public security authorities had already entrusted a professional body to conduct a fire investigation, confirming that the phone battery’s thermal runaway caused the incident and ruling out any internal electrical or environmental factors. Furthermore, the retailer could not provide complete procurement and sales records to prove the phone had no quality issues, nor could they prove the consumer had ever replaced the battery on her own, so the appeal was rejected and the original verdict upheld.