Image of the man in the elevator from the viral video. Photo Source: elevator.
Claim: A viral video on WhatsApp, X, and Facebook claims that an electric vehicle (EV) battery caught fire inside an elevator due to a magnetic field generated when the lift doors closed, resulting in an explosion.
Verdict: MISLEADING. Although the viral video of a battery explosion in an elevator is real, its cause was misattributed to a magnetic field. Our findings reveal the fire was due to a battery malfunction involving thermal runaway.
Full Text
A disturbing video of an explosion on April 27, 2025, has been making the rounds on Nigerian WhatsApp groups ‘Group Pure Politics’ and ‘Kwara Commission. The video shows a person holding a battery inside an elevator. Moments after the elevator doors closed, the battery exploded violently, engulfing the individual in flames.
The one-minute-nine-second video was widely shared with cautionary messages urging people never to carry any battery-powered car, motorcycle, or e-bike into an elevator.
The message claims, “As soon as the elevator door closes, a magnetic field is immediately generated, causing the cabin to explode.”
Screenshot of the viral WhatsApp message.
Further search showed a similar claim was shared on X by Lagos Landlord & Osun, Kwara Tenant (@_cheifagbabika). The post garnered over 4,300 views, 47 reposts, and 45 likes as of May 4, 2025.
Another user, Ayoade Ibrahim, also published this video on LinkedIn and Facebook by Oghenekevwe, with the same cautionary caption warning people not to carry batteries into elevators.
Due to the claim’s virality across different platforms and its potential to cause unnecessary panic and spread misinformation, DUBAWA decided to verify it.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a reverse image and keyword search of the video and found that it is not a recent incident, nor connected to any magnetic field-induced explosion.
The footage was first reported in 2021 in multiple Chinese media outlets here, here, and here. However, the reports did not specify the location or cause of the explosion.
Further searches using keywords led to a report by Chinese media Guangming Online, which confirmed that the incident occurred in 2021 in a residential community in Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.
According to the report, a man identified as Chen and his wife attempted to take their electric bicycle battery outside to cool it down after it overheated. They were carrying the battery in the elevator when the explosion occurred.
The reports indicate that shortly after the elevator doors closed, the battery began emitting smoke and then exploded, with flames rapidly consuming the elevator cabin. A few minutes later, a passerby noticed the incident and alerted emergency services.
The victim was rescued and taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with extensive burn injuries, severe damage to his respiratory tract from inhaling hot gases, acute kidney failure, and burns to his left eye. Despite medical intervention, the man reportedly died of a sudden heart attack (acute myocardial infarction) at home on Nov. 3, 2021.
A fire accident report issued by the local fire department showed that the fire was caused by thermal runaway of the electric bicycle’s lithium battery.
Thermal runaway is a chain reaction within a lithium-ion battery that can lead to overheating, fire, or even an explosion. It often results from battery damage, poor-quality components, overcharging, or incompatible chargers.
Can a Magnetic Field Cause an Explosion Inside an Elevator?
Scientific analysis shows that magnetic fields inside elevators are not strong enough to ignite batteries. According to a report published in Electrical Technology, contrary to the viral claim, a battery does not explode merely because it is placed inside an elevator.
Mutia Oniye, an expert in Sodium-ion battery technology and materials engineering, affirms that the most likely cause of such explosions is an internal fault within the battery itself.
“This typically occurs when the positive and negative terminals come into contact, resulting in what is known as an internal short circuit,” she said.
Oniye, a Graduate Research Assistant at the Nazarbayev School of Engineering and Digital Science, Kazakhstan, said such a short circuit generates an abnormally high current flow within the battery, which can cause intense overheating.
“If unchecked, this thermal build-up may lead to a fire or explosion. However, these occurrences are rare, especially in high-quality batteries.
“Most incidents are linked to low-grade batteries or improper handling, rather than environmental factors such as the presence of a magnetic field in an elevator”, she said.
A renewable energy expert and battery safety consultant, Muhammed Abdulganiy, dismissed the claim as highly implausible.
He said elevators operate using standard electromagnetic actuators that emit low-strength, localised magnetic fields.
“These fields are non-ionising and insufficient to disrupt electric vehicle batteries’ internal electrochemistry or battery management systems. EV batteries, especially lithium-ion types, are designed to withstand a variety of environmental factors,” he told Dubawa.
He emphasised that thermal runaway, a condition where the battery overheats uncontrollably, is generally caused by internal defects, physical damage, or improper handling.
“The magnetic fields from elevator door motors or sensors are far too weak to trigger short circuits, thermal runaway, or spontaneous combustion in a properly designed battery system,” Abdulganiy concluded.
Conclusion
The viral video of a battery explosion in an elevator is real but misattributed and misinterpreted. The blast was not caused by a magnetic field but by a battery malfunction involving thermal runaway.
By Dare Akogun
This story was produced per the 2025 Kwame Karikari Dubawa Fact Check and OSINT Fellowship
