Electric Car Inferno Claims Life of Young Driver as Doors Lock and Trap Him Inside
- A 31-year-old man died in a horrific blaze after his electric car burst into flames and its doors locked, trapping him inside.
- The terrifying incident, which occurred in Chengdu, China, has raised concerns over the safety of electronic door mechanisms in electric vehicles.
- Rescuers were unable to free the driver due to the locked doors and spreading fire, despite frantic efforts to save him.
- The tragedy is the latest in a series of incidents involving electric cars and faulty door mechanisms, sparking calls for greater regulation and safety measures.
A devastating electric car fire in China has claimed the life of a young driver, after the vehicle’s doors locked and trapped him inside. The horrific incident, which occurred in the early hours of Monday morning in Chengdu, Sichuan, has sparked widespread outrage and concern over the safety of electronic door mechanisms in electric vehicles.
According to eyewitnesses, the Xiaomi SU7 sedan smashed into a verge at high speed, spun into the oncoming lane, and erupted into flames. The driver, a 31-year-old man surnamed Deng, was suspected of driving under the influence at the time of the crash. Despite frantic efforts by rescuers, who tugged at the locked doors and tried to break the windows, they were unable to free the driver before the fire consumed the car.
“The fire broke out around 3.10am,” said one anonymous eyewitness. “My friend and I immediately drove to the scene. At first, there were four or five people on the scene rescuing the man. One of them didn’t have any tools and pried the car window with his hands, bleeding all over.”
The eyewitness added that the Xiaomi’s body remained “relatively intact” after the crash, suggesting that the doors were not jammed by impact but by design. The SU7 uses electronic door locks that may have failed when the vehicle lost power, leaving the driver trapped as flames spread.
The harrowing incident has reignited concerns over the safety of electric vehicles, with regulators and critics warning of the dangers of faulty door mechanisms. In Germany, a man and two children died in a similar incident involving a Tesla, while in California, a 19-year-old student died in a Cybertruck inferno after she couldn’t locate the manual override.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently probing Tesla Model Y door handles, while Chinese authorities are reportedly weighing a ban on fully concealed handle designs. Critics warn that manual releases are often hidden or hard to access, especially for panicked passengers or first responders.
The Chengdu fire is the second deadly SU7 crash this year, and comes as Xiaomi faces mounting scrutiny of its EV designs. The company’s Hong Kong-listed shares plunged as much as 8.7 per cent after video of the blaze went viral on Chinese social media.