Sleeping student dies in blaze after laptop batteries explode

A UNIVERSITY student died from smoke inhalation after batteries in his laptop exploded while he was sleeping, an inquest has heard.

Edward Hughes’s badly burned body was found in the living room of his mother’s home near Torpoint, Cornwall, on Aug 29 last year.

Coroner Andrew Cox said the blaze started in the 20-year-old’s bedroom.

An experienced fire investigator found part of a laptop, a plastic welder and extension leads in the debris but Mr Cox said none of them could definitely be said to be the source of the fire.

However, the coroner said once the blaze had started, the laptop batteries would have potentially exploded and become sources of ignition elsewhere in the property.

He told the inquest in Truro: “Once the fire had started the laptop batteries would have contributed to the development of the fire.”

Home Office forensic pathologist Dr Amanda Jeffery said Edward, a Bristol University student who had been studying physics, died from inhalation of toxic fire smoke. A postmortem revealed an extremely high reading in his blood.

The inquest heard bedsprings were found under his body when it was recovered from the ground floor of the cottage which is situated in a narrow rural lane.

She was unable to say why Edward was unable to escape from the house but said “potentially” he was in a very deep sleep when it began in his room.

Edward’s sister Esther told the coroner her youngest sibling was “a genius academically and musically” who loved nature.

His father, retired GP Christopher Hughes, said his son was living with his mother at the time of the blaze. She had gone out swimming at a nearby beach when the fire happened.

Fire investigator Jason Dean said lithium batteries from a laptop can catch fire and are very volatile and explode.

He said they can set fire to bedding, soft furnishings and burn violently causing a blaze to spread quickly.

He said one of the most likely sources was a laptop catching fire, adding that the PC does not have to be plugged in and charging when this happens.

Mr Dean said this was one of the most severe house fires he had seen and said no accelerants were used, but added that he could not locate one of the four batteries from the burned laptop.

Police said the fire was not suspicious and no third party had been involved.

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.

‘Once the fire had started the laptop batteries would have contributed to the development of the fire’