South Korean man killed by co-worker’s drill, not LG cellphone

We thought it a little odd that an “exploding” cellphone battery could inflict the kind of physical damage that killed that South Korean quarry worker, who we only know as Seo (his last name). Broken ribs and spine aren’t the type of injuries we’d expect from a faulty mobile phone’s battery. And, with this breaking news, LG has been vindicated (and their assertion of the impossibility of an exploding mobile phone battery has been corroborated). It seems that Seo was not killed by his LG mobile phone’s battery, but rather by his co-worker’s drilling machine. The co-worker, identified only by his surname, Kwon, confessed today that he backed the drilling rig into Seo. He admitted to having fabricated the “exploding cellphone.” Kwon told Min Kang-gi, a detective in Chungju, that he used the cellphone battery as a diversion to throw off investigators.

Interestingly, the co-worker claims to have not set fire to, or melted, the LG mobile phone in Seo’s shirt pocket. We presume the damage to the mobile phone was caused by the accident.

LG has released a statement, saying that “LG rigorously tests all the products not only for functionality and design, but safety as well.”

So, for all of you out there with an LG mobile phone in your pocket or purse, there’s no need to worry that your LG phone will end up killing you – just keep an eye out for co-workers with industrial machines.

[Via: AP]