NEW YORK — The mother of a 12-year-old New York boy injured when his hoverboard caught fire is suing the manufacturer for damages.
Staten Island mom Lorraine Cerullo said the $400 Swagway X1 hoverboard burst into flames on Jan. 3, the New York Daily News reported.
Cerullo said her son Michael suffered severe smoke inhalation in a fire which left their family home in ruins. The blaze caused $12,000 worth of damage, according to a lawsuit filed by the family, the New York Daily News reported.
The self-balancing scooter was given to Michael as a Christmas gift by his grandmother Ida Iorio. She told CBS New York in January that she spent $400 because she didn't want an unsafe knock-off.
According to lawyers, the packaging said the hoverboard was approved by safety certification company Underwriters Laboratories. But in fact, the label was counterfeit, the New York Daily News reported.
Manufacturers Swagway said they were working with Underwriters Laboratories to get genuine certification, according to the New York Daily News.
The news comes as Amazon stopped selling hoverboards. The online retail giant pulled all boards from its site on Tuesday over safety fears, CNET reported.
Concerns about the boards are based on their use of lithium ion batteries, their circuitry, and how they are assembled, according to Tech Times.
Federal regulators warned hoverboard makers in a letter last week that the scooters would be banned if they didn't meet safety standards, the New York Daily News reported.
The letter said there have been at least 52 hoverboard fires around the country since December last year, causing $2 million in damages.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
Get top stories delivered to your inbox everyday: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter
Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus
