A fire in a ride-hailing car in Nanjing killed one person and injured one person. The explosion was caused by a lithium battery pack carried by a passenger.

At 18:58 on August 14, the official Weibo account of Jianye Branch of Nanjing Public Security Bureau of Jiangsu Province reported that a fire in an online ride-hailing vehicle in Jianye District of Nanjing that day caused burns on the back and left leg of the driver Zhou, but his life was not in danger; the passenger Cai died on the spot.

The notice stated that at around 9:00 a.m. on August 14, 2019, a black online-hailing car was driving near the north gate of BenQ Hospital on Hexi Street in Jianye District when it suddenly caught fire. The driver jumped out of the car to put out the fire, and the vehicle crashed into a roadside flower bed and stopped. A passenger in the back seat died.

According to people at the scene, the vehicle caught fire instantly, with flames shooting into the sky and thick smoke billowing. Firefighters then rushed to the scene to put out the fire and rescue people. After the fire was extinguished, there was black ash left on the ground at the scene of the accident, the isolation belt and guardrails on the side of the road were knocked crooked, and some leaves above the green belt were also burned.

According to the police report, the passenger Cai was at the gate of a community on Huangshan Road in Jianye District at around 9 o'clock that day, carrying food in a plastic bag in his left hand and a lithium battery pack for an electric vehicle to be repaired in his right hand . He got on an online-hailing car driven by Zhou. The vehicle drove for about six minutes to the scene of the accident when smoke and fire suddenly appeared in the back seat.

The injured driver is 41 years old and has been driving an online ride-hailing car for more than a year without any incident. According to a person familiar with the driver, "He never drives fast, has a gentle and mild personality, and is not impatient. The car just had its annual inspection in July."

According to the insurance company staff, the cause of the explosion was not the spontaneous combustion of the car. "The passenger in the car was carrying a large bag. When the driver was taking him to his destination and passing by BenQ Hospital, the bag at the back exploded."

At present, the relevant situation is under further investigation.