Boy tells of horror after hoverboard explodes beneath his feet

An 11-year-old boy today told of the moment a hoverboard exploded beneath his feet.

Kyrelle Foster was riding the gadget when smoke began pouring from its battery compartment.

He leapt off moments before it became engulfed in flames.

Kyrelle told the Standard: “It started smoking and I ran away from it because I knew it was going to blow up. I was scared.

“I jumped off and it rolled towards me. I ran to get my dad. I’ve never seen anything blow up before.”

Kyrelle’s father said he had borrowed the board from a friend, who had bought it online.

He said Kyrelle had been riding it in the family flat, at Tannoy Square, West Norwood, minutes before.

Mr Foster said: “I told him to go and ride it outside, and a couple of minutes later it started sparking, then it was burning everywhere.

“There were 5ft-high flames and bits of it were just popping off everywhere.”

Fire chiefs issued an image of the self-balancing scooter’s remains to warn of their potential risks.

Charlie Pugsley, head of fire investigation at London Fire Brigade (LFB), said: “Hoverboards might be the must-have gadget but we have serious concerns that some products on sale which are non-compliant could be unsafe and pose a fire risk.

“The hoverboard was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at the scene but thankfully the child was not injured.

“We’d recommend using the National Trading Standards product safety checklist and keeping an eye on the Electrical Safety First’s recall list.”

LFB has attended at least nine fires as a result of hoverboards, including a house fire in Morden in October 2015 from which two men were lucky to escape with their lives.

The fire brigade has also warned that more people will die from fires started by faulty white goods if the Government does not implement safety recommendations made over a year ago. In a letter to the Prime Minister, a group of safety bodies warned that thousands of dangerous white goods are still being used in homes. About three fires a day involve tumble dryers.

The fire service said it was “extremely concerned” that “no substantial changes” hadbeen made, despite several fatal fires and a review into the product recall system being launched in 2014

The Grenfell Tower fire two months ago, in which at least 80 died, started in a faulty fridge-freezer.