A South Korean quarry worker has reportedly been found dead with a burning mobile phone stuck to his chest – prompting speculation that he died when the device exploded.

The man was found with burns on his chest, fractured ribs and internal bleeding, a doctor at Chungbuk National University Hospital told Reuters. He was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.

"When he was admitted into the emergency room, the melted mobile phone was stuck to the left side of his shirt," Kim Hoon, of the emergency department at Chungbuk National University Hospital, said.

"I cannot think of any other cause of his death other than his mobile phone exploding."

Kwon Young-sup, who saw the man, told YTN, the national broadcaster: "He was lying on the ground and his mobile phone was still burning so I had to put the fire out."

Doctors told Chosen.com that the man “had a blot-shaped wound caused by a shock or impact below his left chest. The X-ray showed that his heart and lungs were damaged. It seems he died due to severe impact from a blast, considering that his ribs were fractured."

They added: “The accident was highly likely caused by an explosion, given the damaged conditions of his shirt,” he said. “The area near the wound indicated it was burned by a blast."

AP reported that police said the phone was made by LG Electronics, the world's fifth-biggest handset maker.

An LG official confirmed to AP that one of its products was involved in the accident but would not comment directly on the death.

Millions of products, including mobile phones and laptops, have been recalled over the past two years over fears that their lithium ion batteries are faulty and may overheat or explode.

In August, users of Nokia mobile phones were urged to check their handsets after the company said that it would replace 46 million batteries after at least 100 of the components overheated while being recharged.

The “product advisory” from the Finnish company raised further questions over the reliability of the lithium-ion battery technology commonly used in mobile gadgets.

Last year, Sony was forced to recall nearly 10 million lithium-ion laptop computer batteries after pictures of one machine bursting into flames in an airport lounge were posted on the internet.

Nokia said that “no serious injuries or property damage have been reported” from its faulty batteries, but a spokeswoman added that it was possible that an overheating battery could cause damage to a surface on which it was left.

Sony's battery recall cost the Japanese group about 51 billion yen (£215 million) last year. Earlier this year the company was forced to recall a further 10,000 Sony-made PC battery packs supplied to Toshiba because of fire risks.

Sanyo, another battery maker, has been hit by similar problems and in March said that it would share with Lenovo, the PC maker, the cost of recalling 205,000 Sanyo-made laptop batteries.

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