An Aberdeen medical student was left with gruesome burns after her phone charger exploded in the middle of the night.
Katy Emslie had left her EE Power Bar portable battery plugged into her laptop to recharge overnight.
The 26-year-old was awakened by a loud noise when the tiny power unit erupted in flames and shot across her Bucksburn bedroom “like a firework”.
The device ricocheted off the wall close to her pillow before rolling under her bed and setting fire to it.
Shocked and in a state of panic, the former Banchory Academy pupil jumped from her bed screaming and attempted to put the blaze out with her bare hands.
Ms Emslie, who is studying at Aberdeen University, needed hospital treatment for her burns and has urged other to take care around electrical chargers.
She said: “I woke up in the middle of the night to what sounded like a firework, got out of bed and looked down to see flames coming out from under the bed.
“I was terrified, I started screaming, thinking my house was going to catch on fire.
“I was trying to put the flames out in a panic with my hands, I didn’t want it to reach my bed or go through the floor.
“My hand has been cleaned up, and the blisters have been removed, but it’s still pretty raw.”
A spokeswoman for EE, the mobile phone service provider that supplied the free device, said: “We’re sorry to hear about Ms Emslie’s experience.
“All of our products undergo stringent safety tests. This is an isolated incident and we’re in contact with the customer to investigate the cause of this issue as a matter of urgency.”
