This video does not show a phone explosion because of human farting - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 23, 2023
A video is being shared on social media claiming it shows the visuals of a man stripping his trousers after the phone in his back pocket exploded because of his farting. Sharing the video, the post says that the Hydrogen and Methane gases in a human fart can cause a spark and warns people to be cautious when they fart with phones in their back pockets. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of a man stripping his trousers after the phone in his back pocket exploded after he farted.
Fact: The video shared in the post shows an old incident of a man stripping down his pants after a power bank in his pocket caught fire at the OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa. The power bank explosion was reportedly caused because of overheating. The methane and hydrogen gases in bacteria-produced farts are combustible. But the accident shown in the video was not caused because of a human fart. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the screenshots shared in the post, a video with similar visuals was found published by the ‘Independent’ news website on 09 March 2020. Sharing the video, the news website reported that a man was forced to strip down to his pants at the Tambo International Airport after an electronic device in his pocket caught fire because of excessive heating.
A few other news articles that reported this incident that took place at the Tambo International Airport in South Africa can be seen here and here. As per the reports, Lwando Mashiamahle was waiting for his girlfriend, who was queuing to buy a plane ticket, when a power bank in his trouser pocket overheated and burst into flames. Speaking about the incident to ‘News 24’, Lwando Mashiamahle said, “It felt quite hot in my pocket but I thought it was normal, like sometimes your phone heats up when you’re using it, but I never thought it could explode“.
The methane and hydrogen gases in bacteria-produced farts, also called flatulence, are flammable. As per the reports, in rare cases, a build-up of flammable gasses in the intestines had caused explosions during intestinal surgeries. But the accident shown in the video was not caused because of human farting.
To sum it up, this video does not show a phone explosion because of human farting.