An electric scooter caught fire in Hosur, an industrial hub in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri district, on Saturday, April 30, causing panic in the area. The owner, a supervisor at a private firm in Bengaluru, however, had a providential escape when he jumped off the scooter right in time.
Hosur resident Satish Kumar noticed his Okinawa scooter suddenly catching fire from under the seat and jumped to safety. As the vehicle went up in flames, passersby rushed to his help in dousing the blaze. But the vehicle got gutted, police said. Satish had bought the electric two-wheeler last year.
E-Bike goes up in flames while on the drive in Hosur district. Spoting fire on the bike, driver got down immediately and escaped unhurt. Reportedly the ebike manufactured by Okinawa. @News18TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/K2fzfJuRal
— Mugilan Chandrakumar (@Mugilan__C) April 30, 2022
Electric scooters suddenly catching fire has become a cause for concern of late. In a string of such incidents recently, a father and his daughter died due to suffocation in Vellore district in March due to the smoke caused by the explosion of the electric bike while being charged. This bike too was made by Okinawa.
Three weeks after their death, Okinawa had decided to recall 3215 of its scooters to fix any issue related to batteries. The batteries will be checked for loose connectors or any damage and will be repaired free of charge, vehicle owners will be contacted individually and the repair will be done at authorised dealerships, the company said in a statement issued on April 16.
An electric two-wheeler had also caught fire in Manapparai in Tiruchirappalli district in Tamil Nadu. Earlier this month, a man died when the detachable battery of the electric scooter kept for charging exploded in his house in Telangana. In another incident, man in Andhra was killed and three others were injured after battery of an e-vehicle exploded.
In Tamil Nadu’s Ambur this month, a frustrated man poured petrol on his e-scooter and set it afire as the manufacturers did not send help on time when he complained that the vehicle stopped working after 50 km. The video of the man torching his own bike went viral on social media.
Last week, electric scooter maker PURE EV, expressing deep regret over the alleged explosion of a battery of an electric scooter leading to the death of an 80-year-old man in Telangana's Nizamabad, announced that it has decided to recall 2,000 vehicles in Nizamabad and Chennai.
Concerned over the rise in incidents of electric two-wheelers catching fire, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said the companies found negligent will be penalised and a recall of all defective vehicles will be ordered after receiving the report of an expert panel that has been formed to inquire into the matter.
With PTI inputs