Cell phone explodes in technician's hand during repair in Goiás; see video
Security cameras recorded the moment when a cell phone exploded in the hands of a technician during technical assistance, on Monday afternoon (29), in Aparecida de Goiânia, in the metropolitan region of Goiás.
To CNN Brasil, the store owner stated that the incident happened while the technician was replacing the device's battery, which had already arrived at the establishment with signs of "swelling".
On that occasion, the technician even tried to remove the back cover of the cell phone manually, using alcohol suitable for maintenance, precisely to prevent the battery from exploding. However, according to the owner of the place, the material was already "quite swollen and pressed".
In the recording obtained by CNN Brasil it is possible to visualize the moment of the explosion. Watch:
https://admin.cnnbrasil.com.br/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2026/06/WhatsApp-Video-2026-06-30-at-19.51.48.mp4
In the images, the man appears sitting next to a second employee, when the cell phone explodes. At the same moment, the technician falls back so that the fire does not reach his face.
Due to the impact, other employees appear in the footage to see what had happened. The technician was later taken to the hospital, where first-degree burns were identified.
"The intention is to warn people to be careful with devices with a swollen battery, to be careful not to sleep with the device under the pillow, not to put the cell phone in your pocket when the battery is swollen, because the risk is that it will burst at any moment", explained the owner of the technical assistance.
Explosion in pants pocket
In February 2025, a cell phone exploded in a woman's pants pocket while she was shopping in the city of Anápolis, also in Goiás, causing the young woman's clothes to catch fire. Watch:
Cell phone explodes inside woman's pocket in Goiás | CNN 360º
To CNN, Cynthia Thamires da Silva, researcher at USP and R&D manager at HION Tecnologia, explained the signs that can precede an accident like this. According to the expert, although rare, the problem can occur due to failures in the battery protection system.
Smartphone batteries have an electronic management system responsible for protecting them against voltage, undervoltage, overcurrent and overheating.
The researcher clarified that the so-called "explosion" is, in fact, an inflammation caused by lithium leaking from the battery in contact with air. The process is severe and resembles an explosion.
"Simply put, the protection system must turn off the smartphone when it identifies a battery failure, and most likely this did not occur", explained Cynthia Thamires da Silva.
Source: CNN