‘Unexploded bombs’: call for action after 11 deaths in UK due to e-bike fires

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Dangerous batteries and conversion kits still being sold online, new safety data reveals

because they can rapidly ignite in a fireball and are routinely left to charge overnight in hallways, blocking what may be the only exit. Campaigners compare the most dangerous products to “unexploded bombs”.

MPs and safety groups are calling for third party certification to ensure e-bikes, e-scooters and their batteries are approved by an independent body before being available for sale. This is already the case for other high risk products such as fireworks. Other residents in the property escaped by jumping out of windows, but Duarte tried to leave by the staircase unaware of the ferocity of the fire. She died of burns and smoke inhalation.

Mizanur Rahman, 41, died in hospital in March last year after a fire at a flat in east London caused by an e-bike, which had been heavily modified with a battery cage and motor. The fire led to an uncontrollable increase in temperature known as thermal runaway, a risk in lithium-ion batteries used in e-bikes.

The Labour MP Neil Coyle, who obtained the figures on 2023 deaths involving e-bike fires in a parliamentary answer, said regulators needed stronger powers to force online retailers to take down products that were unsafe. He said: “The number of deaths is growing and is likely to continue to grow unless there are greater powers to remove dangerous items. Each death is a tragedy, but it’s also an avoidable tragedy.

 

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