iPhone 'exploded into flames in man's pocket'

Fire melted pocket shut and man had to rip trousers off to escape, he claims

An iPhone burst into flames, melting its owner’s pocket shut and forcing him to rip off his trousers as people could smell his body burning, a man has claimed.

Erik Johnson, a twenty nine year old man from New York state, is still recovering from the third degree burns sustained when his iPhone 5C caught fire, he told local news. Apple has said that it is investigating the incident.

Johnson was at a party when he bent down to pick up a set of keys. He felt a burning on his leg, heard a pop and a fizzling, and then his leg started to burn, he said.

The heat melted his pocket shut so that the only way to escape the heat was to take off his trousers, he said.

“A couple of people actually said they could smell my body burning,” Johnson told local TV station ABC 7.

The injuries meant that he spent 10 days in hospital and he has recently returned home, where he is still recovering from his injuries.

Other iPhone owners have claimed that their phones have burst into flames, often following accidents or bumps to the handset.