SEOUL – (warsoor) – Samsung Electronics on Saturday urged consumers to stop using Galaxy Note 7 smartphones immediately and exchange them as soon as possible, as more reports of the phones catching fire emerged even after the company’s global recall.
Samsung recalled 2.5 million phones last week after reports emerged of the device exploding during or after charging.
“We are asking users to power down their Galaxy Note 7s and exchange them as soon as possible,” Koh Dong-jin, Samsung’s mobile president, said in the statement.
“We are expediting replacement devices so that they can be provided through the exchange program as conveniently as possible.”
Meanwhile, civil aviation authorities in the Emirates have banned Galaxy Note 7 on all its national carriers. “The General Civil Aviation Authority has banned operating, charging and carrying in bags the Samsung Note 7 on board national carriers’ flights,” it said.
Etihad Airways has already temporarily banned the use of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on board its flights, and the UAE also has two low-cost airlines, flydubai and Air Arabia. Singapore Airlines, Australia’s Qantas, and Virgin Australia have announced similar bans.
US and Japanese aviation authorities have urged passengers not to turn on or charge the large-screen phones on aircraft, while the US Federal Aviation Administration has told passengers not to stow the device in checked baggage. Scandinavian Airlines said Saturday that it has prohibited passengers from using the Galaxy Note 7 on its flights.
Samsung said it had confirmed 35 cases of the Galaxy Note 7 catching fire as of Sept. 1, most of them occurring while the battery was being charged.
There are at least two more cases that Samsung said it is aware of — one at a hotel in Perth, Australia, and another in St. Petersburg, Florida, where a family reported that a Galaxy Note 7 left charging in their Jeep had caught fire, destroying the vehicle.
Source:
Arab News