Samsung Can’t Catch a Break as Galaxy J5 Reportedly Explodes in France

The latest in a series of exploding Samsung product lines may be the Galaxy J5. A report has surfaced of the budget smartphone catching fire and blowing up in the south of France.

Lamya Bouyirdane, a resident of Pau, France and mother of three, told the media that she noticed something very wrong with her Samsung smartphone after asking her four-year-old son to hand it to her. The device had “swollen up” and begun emitting thick tendrils of smoke. Bouyirdane quickly threw it away before the phone caught fire and blew its back off, according to Gizmodo.

Her partner was luckily able to put out the flames before anyone was injured. The couple has stated that they intend to sue the beleaguered South Korean tech giant, which recently completely large-scale recalls of the entire Galaxy Note 7 smartphone line as well as nearly 3 million washing machines.

On the other hand, there is the possibility that the J5 explosion was an isolated incident, according to William Stofega, mobile analyst at IDC, noted “these reports tend to cluster.” This is the first report of the J5 exploding since it debuted in July 2015.

Samsung responded to queries from Gizmodo, by stating that it could not comment on the incident until completing a thorough investigation. The spokesperson also noted that “Customer safety remains our highest priority and we want to work with any customer who has experienced an issue with a Samsung product in order to investigate the matter and support them. The issues with the Galaxy Note 7 are isolated to only that model.”

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