Late night explosion fright prompts Nokia investigation

Norman Sievewright said he was given a "huge fright" when he awoke to a loud bang in the in the middle of the night.

He found his phone in pieces and the carpet singed.

"It was very scary. . . especially with the fumes." he told One News.

Nokia said it had the remains of the charger and phone and would be investigating the cause of the explosion.

The Consumers' Institute chief executive Sue Chetwin said the incident was frightening.

She advised anyone who was worried about their phone to get a Nokia shop to look at it.

In August Nokia issued a global advisory notice that it would replace its bl-5c batteries made between December 2005 and last November, after about 100 of them had overheated or exploded.

The company had produced about 46 million of those batteries worldwide.

- NZPA