A Mercedes-Benz electrical car (EV) which reportedly caught alight in a South Korean automotive park final week reportedly brought about injury to no less than 70 vehicles, and resulted in additional than a dozen individuals being hospitalised.
Yonhap Information Company studies the fireplace began at about 6:15am on Thursday July 1 within the basement of an condominium constructing in Incheon, west of Seoul.
It’s unclear as to why the EV, which seems to be a Mercedes-Benz EQE, caught hearth, although safety footage posted on-line exhibits smoke rising from the electrical sedan moments earlier than the fireplace erupted.
In keeping with the information company, greater than 177 firefighters and 80 hearth engines had been dispatched to sort out the blaze, which reportedly broken roughly 70 different automobiles within the automotive park earlier than it could possibly be tamed.
No less than 16 residents of the condominium advanced had been taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, with Korea JoongAng Day by day moreover reporting that 480 households misplaced energy as a result of hearth, with 121 individuals subsequently relocated.
A spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz South Korea instructed Yonhap the corporate is investigating the supply of the fireplace.
“Because the investigation remains to be ongoing, we ask on your understanding that we can’t present additional particulars presently,” the spokesperson mentioned.
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Mercedes-Benz EQE
“We specific our deep remorse to the residents of the condominium advanced and the encompassing space affected by the latest incident.”
Whereas EV fires are far much less frequent than these involving petrol or diesel automobiles, the high-voltage batteries which energy the vehicles burn extra aggressively and require considerably extra water to place out.
In keeping with EV FireSafe, an Australian firm which collates international car hearth information, there have been 511 reported incidents of thermal runaway in EV and plug-in hybrid car (PHEV) batteries worldwide between 2010 and the tip of June 2024.