EE phone charger explodes and leaves student with serious burns

A medical student has suffered serious burns after her phone charger exploded and set her bedroom on fire.

Katy Emslie, 26, was using her laptop to recharge a portable EE power bar when it shot out "like a firework" and flew across the room on Thursday night.

She said the charger crashed into a wall, charring the carpet behind it and causing a fire under her bed.

^{The burns left on Katy's hand (SWNS)}

In a panic, the medical student tried to extinguish the flames with her hands, leaving them badly burned.

Ms Emslie, from Aberdeen, suffered a partial thickness burn that was treated in accident and emergency for 10 hours.

Her blisters were "deroofed", which allowed the fluid to drain out and her hand was re-dressed.

^{The phone charger that exploded}

She said: "I was charging my EE power bar through my Mac computer overnight and at I was woken up by something which sounded like a firework around 1am.

"The power bar had exploded up the wall and flames began spreading around my bedroom. I was screaming for my mum who was in the next room, I tried patting the flames out with my hand because I was worried that the fire could spread underneath and set my bed alight.

"My mum came through with a towel and put out the flames while I ran through and ran my hand under the cold water tap. We then went to A&E where I had to keep my hand underneath a cold water tap for three hours before it was cool enough to be treated."

Ms Emslie added: "It's frustrating. I'm usually in the gym running and lifting weights so I don't think I'll be able to do that for a while. I was going to be running in Tough Mudder this weekend and I'm gutted that I won't be able to do it this year.

"The executive office at EE phoned me up and said that they'll be holding an internal inquiry, but all I want is to have the full use of my hands back."

The damage from the fire means Ms Emslie is now sleeping in her brother's bedroom, while he is sleeping on the sofa.

EE hands out free power bars to customers at its stores and a spokeswoman said this was an "isolated incident".

She added: "We're sorry to hear about Ms Emslie's experience. All of our products undergo stringent safety tests. This is an isolated incident and we're in contact with the customer to investigate the cause of this issue as a matter of urgency."