Bizarre Explosions

 50 ton-whale exploded, sopping streets in guts

A whale intended for research exploded on a Taiwanese street in 2004, soaking passersby in blood and guts. The sperm whale, which had died on the beach and was being transported through Tainan for study, burst because of gases building up in its body from decomposition. It soaked several cars and curious pedestrians nearby, forcing residents and business owners to wear masks to clean up the debris. The whale weighed 50 tons and was 55 feet long, making it the largest ever found in Taiwan. It was taken to a Tainan university, which sent it on to the Shi-Tsao natural preserve for study. The whale's girth took 13 hours, three large lifting cranes and 50 workers to get the creature on trailer truck for its final trip. Despite the mammal's grisly explosion, enough of the whale remained for it to be researched by marine biologists.

 Cigarette exploded, causing a smoker to lose six teeth

An Indonesian man lost six teeth and suffered 51 stitches to his mouth after the cigarette he was smoking exploded. Andi Susanto, 31, claims he was riding on a motorbike when the cigarette exploded. He has now received a payment of 5m rupiah ($535) in an out-of-court settlement from the cigarette manufacturers, PT Nojorono Tobacco. Indonesia is one of the largest markets for cigarette manufacturers in the world, with more than 60 percent of men smoking. Susanto, however, is planning to quit.

 Ipod exploded, almost injuring 11-year old girl and family

Ken Stanborough, 47, from Liverpool, dropped his 11-year-old daughter Ellie's iPod Touch last month. "It made a hissing noise," he said. "I could feel it getting hotter in my hand, and I thought I could see vapour". Mr Stanborough threw the device out of his back door, where within 30 seconds there was a pop, a big puff of smoke and it went 10 ft in the air. According to Mr Stanborough, Apple attempted to silence a father and daughter with a gagging order, offering a refund, only if he agreed to keep it quiet. A number of bloggers have reported cases where iPods have exploded — usually involving older versions of the digital music players.

 Laptop exploded, during a conference

At a conference in Japan, a Dell laptop suddenly exploded into flames, and lucky for its owner the fiery blast occurred while the PC was sitting on a table and not in his lap. An onlooker reported that the notebook continued to burn, producing several more explosions over the course of about five minutes. We don't have any further details of the model of the computer in question. In light of the evidence, however, we'd suggest you avoid actually using a laptop on your lap. Ouch!

 Toilet exploded, leading to a U$ 10 million lawsuit

A man was severely burned when a portable toilet exploded after he sat down and lit a cigarette. Now John Jenkins, 53, and his wife, Ramona Jenkins, 35, of Brave, Pa, are suing a general contractor and a coal company, accusing them of negligence. The lawsuit claims Jenkins' face, neck, arms, torso and legs were severely burned after the cigarette ignited methane gas leaking from a pipe underneath the toilet unit.

 Office Chair Exploded 'analling' killing teenager

A 14-year-old boy in China was killed when his chair exploded, sending chunks of metal into his rectum, what ultimately killed him. The alleged explosion came from the gas cylinder that was in the base of the chair, the part that allowed the user to adjust the seat up and down. The canister gets compressed when you sit on it, but can it actually create enough energy to make the seat cushion explode like that and kill a man? Some believe it's not possible, but this is the reported story.

 Chewing gum exploded, killing a chemistry student

25-year-old chemistry student Vladimir Likhonos, from Ukraine, died at his parent's house - after relatives heard what was described as 'a loud pop', and rushed into his room. There they discovered that the lower half of his face had been severely disfigured by the chewing gum blast, with his jaw entirely blown off. Forensic tests carried out on the chewing gum revealed an unidentified chemical substance on it. It is thought that the student had a habit of dipping his chewing gum into powdered citric acid - and investigators believe that he may have mistakenly dipped the gum into the wrong substance, as the two powders appeared very similar, leading to the deadly explosion.

 Mobile phone exploded, killing a Chinese man

A man died after his mobile phone exploded, severing a major artery in his neck. The unfortunate man, thought to be a shop assistant in his twenties at a computer shop in Guangzhou, China, died after he put a new battery in his phone. He had just finished charging the battery and had put the phone in his breast pocket when it exploded. This was the ninth recorded cellphone explosion in China since 2002. In the most high profile recent incident, in June 2007, a 22-year-old welder, Xiao Jinpeng, died from chest wounds when his mobile phone exploded while he was at work at an iron mill in Gansu province. Motorola and Nokia, two of the world's biggest mobile phone makers, denied links to the distributors of problem batteries in China, suggesting they were counterfeit. New facts suggest that the man may in fact shot himself accidentally with a home-made pistol.

 Deodorant exploded, injuring Chilean teenager

A 16-year-old Chilean boy was injured by the explosion of a deodorant spray he had just applied in the bathroom of his home in Santiago. The teenager remains in a hospital in Santiago with burns in his face. The wounded man's stepfather said the deodorant container suddenly exploded after the boy, who managed to lower his head, placed it on a shelf. The roof and the windows of the bathroom were destroyed by the blast. The teenager's mother reported the incident to the police and announced that studies legal action against the manufacturer of the deodorant.

 Washing machine exploded after a man was trying to break up grease stain with gas

A St. Paul man is thankful to be alive tonight, after his washing machine exploded in his basement. Glenn Johnson of St. Paul put gasoline in his machine to clean some greasy clothing. Johnson says he's done this for 25 years to break up grease stains. He puts detergent, water and a little gasoline together. Johnson is a mechanic and says it's a trick his father taught him years ago. He was only supposed to use a little bit of gasoline however, he admits he may have overdone it. After he put the gas in the washing machine, the vapors dispersed through the building. Then they found an ignition source, probably the hot water heater. Johnson saw a ball of fire coming up from the drain and hit him directly on his body. It burnt both of his legs and the force of the blast blew him out of the laundry room.