An Owensboro, Kentucky, man was hospitalized with burns after an e-cigarette battery apparently blew up in his pocket, according to employees at the gas station where the incident occurred.
Josh Hamilton was making a purchase at a Shell Gas Station when the battery appeared to randomly explode causing his pants to catch on fire, NBC affiliate WFIE reported.
"He was giving me money. He was putting his hand in his pocket so suddenly there was a blast in his pocket and there was fire, big fire, and he was burning," Shell employee Jassie Singh told WFIE.
Hamilton ran outside, past another employee, Manoj Kumar, to try and take his pants off.
"I was just shocked. What was that? You have a bomb in your pocket?" Kumar told the station. "I was totally shocked. My hands were on my head."
Singh followed with a fire extinguisher to put out the fire and Hamilton was eventually driven to the hospital by another customer, WFIE reported.
Hamilton told WFIE by telephone that he received second-degree burns from the explosion, but is still able to walk.
U.S. & World
There have been other reports of e-cigarettes exploding in recent months.
