Seoul (South Korea) - What was widely reported on Wednesday as a case of accidental death due to an exploding cell phone battery has now been found to be a cover-up of a different kind of accidental death.  A co-worker, named Kwon Young-sup, who originally told police that he found the victim, named Seo, bleeding from the nose and lying dead, has now confessed to accidentally killing him while operating a large piece of heavy machinery.  This is being reported by The Korean Times newspaper.


Kwon said, "I was moving the excavator [a large backhoe on tracks] and Seo was suddenly out of my sight.  I ran out and saw he was lying down bleeding and his clothes on fire.''  Kwon told this story to police, according to The Korean Times.  "All this happened in a moment, and I was too afraid about the accident.  So I lied that the battery exploded and killed Seo."  This news spread across the Internet very rapidly on Wednesday as the possibility of an exploding cell phone battery, something most everybody has these days, is big news.

The coroner assigned to the case found evidence which suggested Kwon's story could not be accurate.  There chest damage to Seo was too wide-spread to have been caused by a cell phone battery explosion.  This raised questions about the real cause.  A spokesman for LG electronics came out and flatly denied that the battery could have exploded in the manner described, stating that their batteries were lithium polymer, and not lithium ion based.  The confession came from Kwon after this information was presented.  Kwon said, "I was too afraid about the accident.  So I lied that the battery exploded and killed Seo."

Read more ... The Sydney Morning Herald, which covered in English the Korean Times newspaper story.

heh

Nov 30, 2007 10:33     

Ironic how he probably lost sight of his buddy because that guy was talking on his cell phone. Oh sweet irony how I love thee!
Digital report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

maybe he is being forced to admit this because the ...

Nov 30, 2007 11:50     

maybe he is being forced to admit this because the korean government/corporations want to cover up problems with their cell phone batteries so that they can still sell their cell phones
abc report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Did anyone believe that story?

Nov 30, 2007 11:53     

Anyone with a brain knew that was a lie. The only people stupid enough to believe it were the journalists who plastered it on every newspaper and web forum they could find. I'm just glad the facts of the case were released promptly to avoid too much bad press for LG electronics. Frankly they should sue the jerk for defamation.
Task report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Confused

Nov 30, 2007 13:57     

I'm a little confused. If he was hit with a backhoe, what caused the fire? [The article didn't specify. However, most likely a short-circuit. -Rick]
compy386 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

@ABC

Nov 30, 2007 14:40     

Yes, its a conspiracy. Seriously, a cell phone battery cannot explode in that manner. It's good this guy came out with the truth when he did, LG is taking some seriously bad press world wide from this.
JackCrackerMan report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Doesn't matter

Nov 30, 2007 14:44     

It doesn't matter if it were exploding cell phone battery anyway...come on...ONE cell phone battery out of billions explode...You probably have a lot better chance to win a lottery. And usually when something weird happens with those batteries, it's always pirate product...
Jep report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

re: abc

Nov 30, 2007 16:21     

Are you typing this while sitting in a lead lined room with your tin-foil hat on? You, the big brother is watching.
Jerry report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Truth?

Dec 01, 2007 07:54     

How do we know THIS is the truth? It could've been premeditated murder. For all we know, he could've ran the guy over and then lit him up to make sure.
TemjinGold report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

looks like finger marks on the phone in the photo

Dec 01, 2007 09:27     

In case anyone missed it. Ya compy, the article sure isn't clear. Perhaps we are to believe that he was partly run over and the pressure on the phone caused it to leak and catch fire. I have no idea. Well okay, I have one but I wouldn't bet on it. Life's good. Ho ho ho! .. no really! HO HO HO! (crunch) ... 'sigh'
Dan S report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Fire

Dec 03, 2007 08:44     

Well...after he got run down by the backhoe...the cell phone battery exploded and burst into flames...ironic...JK, what is up with the fire? I think he set him on fire trying to kill him, then seeing that he was running away jumped into the backhoe and mowed him down to finish him off.
Hazan from Iran report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Idiots abound

Dec 03, 2007 09:56     

Now, when i read the original story on /. and ... got confused when they blamed broken bones on a cell phone battery 'explosion'. I shook my head and figured something was very much missing from the picture. Didn't take long to be proven right. Batteries just don't contain enough power to explode in a dramatic enough way to break bones and kills someone. Compare MJe of your favorite hydrocarbon (aka gas/diesel) with MJe available from a battery...heck even if you BURN the battery.

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