E-cigarette battery explodes in handbag, prompts mall scare
FREEHOLD, N.J. -- Surveillance video has captured an e-cigarette explosion at a New Jersey mall that left a woman’s Louis Vuitton bag smoking as she stood at a checkout counter, scaring a worker and another shopper.
The footage shows a cloud of black smoke pour out of the purse on Sunday and captured the surprise of those in a sunglasses store at the Freehold Raceway Mall, including a worker and the bag’s owner, Mara McInerney.
McInerney can be seen then dumping its charred contents onto the floor. She says everything inside had either melted or burned.
McInerney says the battery of her e-cigarette had been in a pocket by itself and exploded.
No one was hurt.