Poor Apple. It has been feeling the heat over its throttling of old iPhones and has apologized by offering users battery replacements for $29. However, an Apple employee felt a different kind of heat while replacing a battery.
An Apple Store in Zurich, Switzerland, faced a dilemma as an employee was swapping out an old battery. In doing so, the lithium-ion part got extremely hot and started to smoke, forcing the evacuation of the entire store.
Not only was the worker burned, but seven people required medical attention, according to the police report.
“At the same time, there was a slight build-up of smoke, which led to around 50 customers and employees having to leave the business temporarily,” said a police statement issued to Reuters. “The staff responded well and correctly. It sprinkled quartz sand over the overheated battery so that the smoke could be contained and sucked out after switching on the ventilation.”
A police forensics team was called in to try to determine what exactly happened. It wasn"t clear which model of iPhone was being worked on at the time.
Apple is already facing legal action over the battery issue, and now could face a personal injury case as well.
Source: Reuters