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Shocking Bluetooth earphones explosion leads to user's death

The fatal earphones blast is the latest shocking device failure involving personal audio equipment. (Image source: Neowin/Times of India/WFLA - edited)
The fatal earphones blast is the latest shocking device failure involving personal audio equipment. (Image source: Neowin/Times of India/WFLA - edited)
A young Indian man has died from a suspected cardiac arrest following a device explosion while using his Bluetooth earphones. Conflicting reports about the incident have started appearing; however, it seems the fatal earphones blast could have been down to a devastating combination of shoddy manufacturing and a possible power surge.

Reports out of India have revealed that a 28-year-old man from the northern state of Rajasthan by the name of Rakesh Kumar Nagar has died after Bluetooth earphones he was using exploded in his ear. It appears the earphones blast not only damaged the victim’s ears but also left him unconscious, and although Nagar was taken to hospital he did not survive the explosion. A doctor has suggested that the victim “probably died of cardiac arrest”, which would likely have been caused by the unexpected and shocking earphones explosion.

It seems Nagar was using the Bluetooth earphones either for listening to music or to talk to someone while they were plugged into a smartphone that was being charged at the time. While many reports have only focused on the actual blast incident and demise of the young man, there is some telling information about the possible cause in a report from TV9Marathi, which states “Suddenly the light went out, and after the light returned, the earphone in his ear exploded”. It’s possible the earphones blast was caused by a deadly combination of a low-quality device with a potential power surge that can occur after an outage.

The brand name of the earphones involved has not been reported, although it has been commented on Twitter that the device was a cheap “local” brand sold at places like gas stations. While some of the reports have cautioned users not to rely on such inexpensive and likely substandard earphones, such explosive events can befall expensive trusted brands too. A few years ago a woman suffered facial burns when her Beats headphones exploded on a flight from Beijing to Melbourne, and a man in Florida was shocked to find one of his Apple AirPods had blown up after he removed them while at a gym because he had seen white smoke coming out of them.

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Purported earphones involved in mortal accident. (Image source: Times of India)
Purported earphones involved in mortal accident. (Image source: Times of India)
Facial burns caused by Beats headphones blast. (Image source: Neowin)
Facial burns caused by Beats headphones blast. (Image source: Neowin)
Exploded Apple AirPod. (Image source: WFLA News)
Exploded Apple AirPod. (Image source: WFLA News)
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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2021 08 > Shocking Bluetooth earphones explosion leads to user's death
Daniel R Deakin, 2021-08- 8 (Update: 2024-08-15)