Australia: French backpackers escape massive fireball caused by faulty e-bike battery. Watch
Screengrab from CCTV footage showing backpackers escaping massive blaze
Two French travellers staying in a Sydney hostel narrowly escaped a fireball Wednesday morning caused by a faulty e-bike battery.
The two men, aged in their 20s, were inside their room at the Mad Monkey hostel in Potts Point when the battery exploded.
CCTV footage shows one of the men rushing to the hallway as flames burst from the room. The second guy then ran out of the room amid flames and rushed to find an extinguisher.
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One of the men sustained minor injuries and was admitted to St Vincent’s Hospital. Twenty-two firefighters were rushed to the site, along with six fire trucks. At least 70 backpackers were evacuated from the hostel.
What caused the accident?
According to EV FireSafe chief executive Emma Sutcliffe, the blaze may have been sparked by toxic flammable gases coming from a damaged lithium-ion battery.
She also highlighted the growing risk of fires caused by faulty e-bikes, e-scooters and battery-powered devices such as skateboards and hoverboards.
“This is happening pretty much on a weekly basis in Australia and after Christmas we will probably see that ramp up,” she said.
“E-bikes and e-scooter battery fires are incredibly common and in London and New York they’re seeing one of these every day, if not two or three,” she added.
Data on battery fires
According to data cited by the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), the first half of 2023 saw more battery fires than in all of 2022. Fire and Rescue service in New South Wales responded to at least 165 incidents of battery fire in 2023 by August, way more than 114 incidents in 2022.
“In the first six months of this year, we stopped counting at 500 battery fires in electric bikes and scooters,” Sutcliffe said, adding, We were able to track 238 injuries and at least 43 fatalities and all of those fatalities were due to fire.”
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