Boy, 11, hurt as BlackBerry phone 'explodes' (From Campaign Series)

Boy, 11, hurt as BlackBerry phone 'explodes'

11:50am Wednesday 5th December 2012 in News

A BlackBerry Curve reportedly burst into flames, injuring an 11-year-old boy

THE manufacturer of BlackBerry is investigating after an 11-year-old boy suffered burns to his legs when a mobile phone "exploded" in his bedroom.

Kian McCreath, from Coventry, was taken to hospital after his brother Mason's BlackBerry Curve 9320 reportedly erupted in flames and set his duvet alight.

The family is now calling for the mobile to be recalled from shops.

His mother Sarah, 39, said she unplugged the phone, which had been on charge, and put it on Kian's bed.

She said: "I thought nothing of it, made a cup of tea, then I heard a really loud 'pop' sound. Kian started screaming at the top of his voice, shouting 'My bed's on fire!'."

Research In Motion (RIM), which produces BlackBerry phones, said it has spoken to the family and is waiting for them to provide the products so they can investigate the incident further.

In a statement, RIM said: "RIM takes claims of this nature very seriously and a senior member of our team met with the family today to initiate a full investigation into this matter. In order to proceed with this investigation, we require the products that were involved in this incident to be made available for a full technical review.

"At this point in time, the family has not provided RIM with the battery or charger for analysis and have said they are unable to locate the device itself. We have a team on standby to conduct this investigation as a priority as soon as the family makes these products available to us.

"RIM is committed to ensuring our products are safe and we invest significantly in R&D and testing to ensure we meet or exceed all regulatory standards here in the UK and around the world."

The phone was bought from a Vodafone store in Birmingham. Vodafone declined to comment on whether they would continue to offer the model for sale, but a spokeswoman said they would also be speaking to the boy's family and a replacement phone has been offered.