On the evening of October 7th, while a delivery driver was on duty in Shenzhen, his electric scooter suddenly caught fire. The delivery driver abandoned the scooter and escaped, sustaining burns to his body and face.
Videos uploaded by multiple witnesses show the delivery driver riding his electric scooter at an intersection when the vehicle suddenly burst into flames, engulfing both him and the scooter in a fireball. The scooter slid for a few meters before losing control and falling over. The blaze intensified rapidly, with flames shooting into the sky, prompting the delivery driver to quickly abandon the scooter and roll on the ground to safety. The scene appeared quite terrifying, causing nearby residents to flee in fear.
According to reports from mainland media outlets such as “Dafeng News,” the incident occurred around 7 p.m. on the evening of October 7th near the intersection of Huarong Road and Huaxing Road in Longhua District, Shenzhen.
Mr. Hou, an employee at a nearby restaurant, stated that after the incident, some people brought fire extinguishers to put out the fire, while he himself helped evacuate the crowd from the scene.
Subsequently, firefighters arrived to extinguish the fire. Footage showed that the entire electric scooter was burnt to just its frame. The scooter’s owner stood by the roadside with little of his clothes remaining after being singed by the fire. Eyewitnesses on the scene mentioned that the man suffered burns to his body and face and was later taken to a hospital for treatment.
The accident has sparked concerns among many netizens. Some expressed worries, saying, “Electric scooters are too dangerous.” Others speculated, “Most fires are caused by modified lithium batteries, less likely with lead-acid batteries.” One netizen even mentioned, “I heard it was related to battery swapping.”
In response, the Longhua District Fire Brigade stated on the 8th that the cause of the vehicle fire and whether it was modified are still unclear. The results of the investigation will not be made public, only disclosed to the parties involved.