Samsung(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is urging consumers who have Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphones to “power them down and stop charging or using” them.
The warning, issued in a news release Friday, came amid recent news that lithium-ion batteries in certain Note7 devices had resulted in fires.
“When these batteries overheat and burst, the results can be dangerous,” the CPSC said in its statement. “These incidents have occurred while charging and during normal use, which has led us to call for consumers to power down their Note7s.”
The agency said it is working with Samsung to formally announce a recall of the devices.
“CPSC is working quickly to determine whether a replacement Galaxy Note7 is an acceptable remedy for Samsung or their phone carriers to provide to consumers,” the agency said.
On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration warned flyers not to put the Note7 smartphone in their checked bags or turn them on or charge them during flights.
That same day, Samsung and fire officials said they would be launching investigations after a Florida family said that a Galaxy Note7 smartphone had exploded in their Jeep on Labor Day, setting the entire vehicle on fire and destroying it. The Florida family said that the phone had been left charging in the empty vehicle as the engine ran.
On Sept. 2, before the Florida incident, Samsung said it was recalling and suspending sales of the Galaxy Note7. The move came after several reports of the phones exploding while charging.
The tech giant said in a statement last week that there had been 35 reported cases of phones with “a battery cell issue” and that it would replace devices that had already been sold. It also said sales of the smartphone would be suspended in 10 countries, including the U.S.
In February, the FAA issued a safety alert about lithium-ion batteries, saying airlines that carried the batteries as cargo carried the “risk of a catastrophic hull loss” after they lead to fatal fires on Boeing 747s in 2010 and 2011. In 2013, several fires in the batteries of Boeing 787s led the FAA to ground the entire Dreamliner fleet.
Samsung has sold more than 1 million units since the smartphone debuted in August and has manufactured an additional 1.5 million more units. The unsold devices will be replaced with new modified versions so that they will not be affected by the exploding battery problem, Samsung said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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