Daily Times

At least four people were hospitalized, including a man in critical condition, after an e-scooter battery explosion inside a house that caused a fire in Brisbane city of Queensland in Australia, the local media said on Tuesday.

This was the third incident of fire caused by an e-scooter battery explosion in the state in less than a week, ABC News reported. The explosion caused a large amount of smoke and fire in the house. Four family members, including two children, were rescued by locals and taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital with significant smoke inhalation, the media outlet said.

A man in his 40 is still in critical condition in the hospital, while other three, including a woman and her two children, have been discharged, according to the broadcaster. This was the second incident in Brisbane and the third in the state in the last week. Five people were hospitalized on Thursday, including a man who suffered severe burns from an e-scooter battery explosion in a house in Darra, Brisbane. One of the leading causes of such incidents, according to Mark Halverson, executive manager for fire safety at Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, is people using the wrong charger. “In Queensland, we have seen a significant spike in fires that have been attributed to lithium ion battery-powered devices over recent months,” Halverson told the broadcaster.