Mobile phone cleared in S Korean quarry death

The 33-year-old South Korean quarry worker believed to have succumbed to a fatal mobile phone battery blast was actually crushed to death in an "accidental vehicular homicide", Reuters reports.

The body of the man was discovered earlier this week with "his mobile phone battery... melted in his shirt pocket", leading a police officer to suggest: "We presume that the cell phone battery exploded."

A doctor who examined the body said: "He sustained an injury that is similar to a burn in the left chest and his ribs and spine were broken. It is presumed that pressure caused by the explosion damaged his heart and lungs, leading to his death."

However, police have announced that a co-worker "pinned the victim to a rock face while backing up a construction vehicle". An official at Cheongju Heungdeok police station confirmed: "The co-worker confessed to us last [Thursday] night that he had actually hit him by accident and lied about the mobile phone exploding."

Police are now looking into whether the LG mobile phone exploded "due to the intense pressure" or was deliberately set alight. ®