An Apple store in Amsterdam’s Leidseplein square is open again today after being shut down Sunday when the battery in an overheated iPad reportedly exploded.
Three employees were treated for minor injuries after breathing chemical vapors from the battery, but no customers were impacted by the event. An employee quickly put the iPad in a sand-filled fire bucket, according to local reports, which eliminated additional hazards.
As a precaution, the store was evacuated and closed after the incident.
Drie mensen onwel door geëxplodeerde iPad in Apple Store https://t.co/Jn3EkAtE6Ypic.twitter.com/35L7FE1Yi6
— AT5 (@AT5) August 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/asmedianl/status/1031156755349340160
Apple uses rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in their devices, which can overheat and catch fire under certain circumstances. And this isn’t the first incident where a battery has reportedly caught fire. In 2016, the company investigated claims in Australia that an iPhone 7 burst into flames and destroyed a car.
Apple rival Samsung has had its share of problems as well, most notably the discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7 after more than a dozen of the devices overheated, caught fire and exploded. (Samsung apologized and is offered customers credits on their wireless bills as reclaimed Galaxy Note 7s already in the market.)