Overheating iPad battery forces evacuation of Dutch Apple Store
An overheated battery packed inside an Apple iPad tablet forced the evacuation of customers inside an Apple Store located in Amsterdam. The tablet was placed inside a bin filled with sand, which apparently diffused the threat. While there were no signs of smoke (strange, considering this did take place in Amsterdam), three people complained of respiratory issues following the incident. At this point, it is unknown whether they were customers or employees.
At 2:20pm local time (8:20 am EDT in the U.S.), the fire department was already on the scene. By 3:00pm local time, employees and customers were being allowed back into the store. There have been a number of such incidents involving overheating batteries at Apple Stores, including one that happened earlier this year in Zurich. With Apple offering discounted battery replacements to older iPhone models so that these units can escape being throttled, the Genius Bars at Apple's retail locations worldwide have been inundated with appointments for discounted battery replacements.
While the Apple iPad model at the heart of today's incident was not revealed, Apple's tablets carry batteries that are multiple times the capacity of the battery in the iPhone 6s Plus that overheated in Zurich. That explains why the Genius Bar employees in the Amsterdam store should be lauded for their quick thinking in dumping the offending device into the sand bin, which prevented the situation from quickly escalating.
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