New York
\nA fire, sparked after an e-bike lithium batteries explosion in a parking place, killed at least four people and seriously injured two others in Chinatown, New York, taking the number of these incidents to 108th.
\nThe fire was reported to be broken out overnight in a maintenance shop for electric bicycles and scooters, on the ground floor of a building in the city.
\nA large pile of blackened two-wheelers was seen strewn outside the charred facility on Tuesday, in a photo posted by New York Fire Department on their official Twitter account.
\nSpeaking at a press conference, the city\u2019s fire commissioner, Laura Kavanagh, said four people had died and two were seriously injured.
\n\u201cIt is very clear that this was caused by lithium-ion batteries and e-bikes,\u201d she said while adding that the \u201cstore had previously been cited for safety violations.\u201d
\nAccording to the city\u2019s fire department, it is the 108th such fire so far this year in New York, with a total toll of 66 injured and 13 dead, including Tuesday\u2019s victims.
\nBack in April, a woman, 19 and her seven-year-old brother were killed in a similar fire incident in the borough of Queens.
\nFires related to e-bikes and scooters in New York have grown exponentially in recent years, from 44 in 2020 to 220 last year, as residents buy more of the electric devices \u2014 especially for the city\u00b4s highly popular meal delivery services.
\nBatteries are more likely to combust if they are of poor quality or older age, or if they are packed together during charging.
\nWhen they ignite, \u201cthere is so much fire created that it can often be too late as soon as the fire has begun,\u201d Kavanaugh said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New York A fire, sparked after an e-bike lithium batteries explosion in a parking place, killed at least four people and seriously injured two others in Chinatown, New York, taking the number of these incidents to 108th. The fire was reported to be broken out overnight in a maintenance shop for electric bicycles and scooters, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-339204","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n