A fire caused by lithium batteries for electric bikes killed four people in New York on Tuesday, the US city's fire brigade announced.
The fire broke out overnight in a small maintenance shop for electric bikes and scooters on the ground floor of a six-storey building, the foot of which was littered with an impressive pile of blackened two-wheelers on Tuesday, according to a photo posted by the New York Fire Department on its official Twitter account.
At a press briefing at the scene, in Manhattan’s Chinatown district, the city’s fire chief, Laura Kavanagh, gave a casualty toll of four dead and two seriously injured.
It was clear that the fire was caused by lithium-ion batteries and electric bikes, she said, noting that the shop had already received citations for safety violations.
There have been 108 fires of this kind in New York this year, with a total casualty toll of 66 injured and 13 dead.
These fires have been multiplying in recent years – 44 in 2020, 104 in 2021, 220 in 2022 – as more and more New York residents use electric bikes and scooters for commutes as well as home or office deliveries.
Fires can generally be caused by poor-quality batteries, their obsolescence, or the crowded conditions in which they are charged. When they explode, there is so much fire that it is often too late, the head of the fire brigade explained.
