Samsung not alone? Reliance Lyf phone bursts into flames

07 Nov 2016

Reliance Lyf is investigating a case where a smartphone from the company allegedly exploded and burst into flames. Twitter user Tanvir Sadiq posted three images of his Reliance Lyf phone on Twitter, which he claims exploded and then caught on fire.

Sadiq wrote in his tweet, ''My family had a narrow escape today after @reliancejio 's @Reliance_LYF phone exploded & burst into flames.'' Reliance Lyf is the smartphone brand of Reliance Jio.

Sadiq has not shared details of which the model of the Lyf phone he was using, or how it exploded. Based on the photos, this appears to be one of the phones with a removable battery. The Lyf brand logo can be seen on the back of the device. The battery is totally burnt, and the rear of the device has melted away in the pictures.

Reliance Lyf's Twitter responded to Sadiq's tweets asking him for his contact details in order to assist. Lyf's social media team also wrote, ''As discussed we are investigating on this. We will get back to you with further updates.'' This is the first report about a Lyf smartphone bursting into flames.

Reliance also issued a statement to IndianExpress.com on the incident. A Reliance spokesperson said, ''LYF range of phones are designed and manufactured with global standards by some of the world's leading manufacturers of mobile phones. Each phone goes through a stringent quality control process. We are concerned about the incident reported in social media and are taking the matter seriously. We are assessing the cause and will conduct a thorough investigation in the matter. Customer safety is paramount to us and, based on our findings, we will take appropriate action.''

Exploding phones seem to be the buzzword for the year 2016. Samsung's Galaxy Note 7, once touted as the best Android phone of the year, is now out of production thanks to a faulty battery issue. In the Note 7's case the original and replacement phones kept overheating, catching fire and exploding in some incidents.