A Hong-Kong based air freight company has announced a ban on Vivo smartphones after a major fire that occurred over the weekend. A shipment of Vivo Y20 phones caught fire right before it was about to be loaded into a Hong Kong Air Cargo that was bound for Thailand, The Standard reported. 

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Videos of the shipment on fire posted online show the blazing fire in full effect. It shows the fire started with one pallet that later spread to two more. Pictures of the incident that were shared online show numerous Vivo branded smartphone boxes. Needless to say, the burning of the shipment could have cost lives if the fire occurred while the plane was in flight. The fire took 40 minutes to put out and resulted in an unspecified number of smartphones being damaged. 

Vivo Mobile Pallet Catches Fire While Loading in Cargo Plane at HKG pic.twitter.com/sW7NXIoPd5

Now, many Airline industry outlets are reporting that Hong Kong Air Cargo has banned Vivo devices and two air freight companies until further notice. As of now, the cause of the fire is not known but it is possible that it could have been caused by the lithium-ion batteries. Batteries in smartphones can cause fires if they are defective, damaged or trigger a chemical reaction. This has happened before in the past where the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 infamously caught fire in 2016. 

What’s surprising is that the shipment caught fire right before it was loaded onto the aircraft. So a pressurised cabin cannot be blamed in this situation which could point to faulty or damaged batteries. Even the slightest of fires can cause an aeroplane to crash and in this case, it could have resulted in a catastrophic crash. 

Git this on a chat. Anyone can verify? Don't know the date but it's from #HongKong #HKG airport.

A pallet catches fire. Luckily this was on ground. @jaylpod @Chyan pic.twitter.com/m07Zd5sgdn

Vivo is currently investigating the cause for the fire and said in a statement to Android Authority, “We have paid high attention and immediately set up a special team to work closely with the local authorities to determine its cause.” Vivo will keep the media and public informed about any further developments. 

Vivo sells the Y20 in India too and there is no confirmation as to whether batteries on the Indian models could cause a fire as well. We will update the story once Vivo comes out with an explanation on what actually happened. 

Source: The Standard, AirCargoWorld

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