Samsung Galaxy S7 caught fire in cup holder, claims owner

A student from Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia claims her Samsung Galaxy S7 caught fire in the cup holder of her car.

The 27-year-old student, Shaunique Lamb, said the incident happened on 23 February at around 8pm when she was driving to her friend's place.

"I was so scared, mainly because I normally have my cell phones on my persons," Lamb told News 3.

She said the Galaxy S7 was synced to the Bluetooth in the car so that she could play music from an app.

Lamba took her phone to a Sprint Store on Virginia Beach Boulevard, where the staff asked her to file a claim with a phone insurance company. A Sprint representative told News 3 that it was the standard protocol for any phone that is damaged beyond repair.

A Samsung representative has said: "Samsung stands behind the quality and safety of the more than 10 million Galaxy S7 family phones in the U.S. We are working with Ms. Lamb to retrieve the device and learn more about what happened."

"Until Samsung is able to obtain and examine any device, it is impossible to determine the true cause of any incident. Mobile phones are complex devices and there are many factors that could contribute to their malfunction," the spokesperson added.

Chris Augustine, co-owner of mobile repair company TechFix in Norfolk said a battery issue does not necessarily have to be the reason for a phone to overheat. A device could become hot if it is overcharged and several apps are running on the phone.

"If you're streaming music and having heavy usage with the processor it means it can get really hot," said Augustine.