She bought the knock-off charger for $10 from Paddy’s Markets as a gift for her son Daniel on his 14th birthday last Sunday but, by Monday evening, the device was a blackened wreck.
Ms Sommerville, from Kanahooka near Wollongong, said she heard a loud bang – ‘‘like metal hitting metal’’ – and saw a flash of light coming from Daniel’s room.
‘‘Daniel came out of his bedroom with a stunned look on his face. He said, ‘the charger’,’’ Ms Sommerville said.
‘‘The whole house smelt like gun powder. I was shocked.’’
The explosion caused the electricity supply to short circuit in three bedrooms, and at one of the loungeroom power points.
‘‘Who knows what would have happened if we didn’t have a circuit breaker,’’ Ms Sommerville said.
‘‘After hearing about the other woman that got killed by it, we’re really thinking how seriously lucky Daniel is.’’
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