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https://my.news.yahoo.com/honda-reports-exploding-takata-airbag-death-080959542--finance.html Honda said Thursday that an exploding airbag in one of its cars killed a woman in Malaysia, bringing to five the number of deaths linked to a defect in parts made by embattled Japanese supplier Takata. The previous four cases happened in the United States, but Honda said another woman died in a July crash after the rupture of a Takata-made airbag. "An airbag on one of our vehicles exploded abnormally and a Malaysian woman was killed," said a Tokyo-based spokesman for the Civic and Accord maker. At least three of the five deaths "were caused by an abnormal airbag explosion, including the latest case in Malaysia", Honda said, adding that the airbag's involvement in the other two cases had yet to be confirmed. The news came as the car giant announced an additional recall of more than 170,000 vehicles worldwide due to the risk that an explosion could send metal shards from the airbag's inflator hurtling at drivers. Police reportedly investigated at least one driver death in the US as a murder due to woman's grisly injuries, until their focus switched to the vehicle's airbag. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the US auto safety regulator, has expanded its "urgent" warning to owners of cars with affected airbags to take them to dealers to fix the problem. Takata is facing the biggest test in its 80-year history with lawsuits, calls for a criminal probe, and accusations of "deception and obfuscation" over the potentially deadly defect. Millions of vehicles produced by some of the world's biggest automakers, including Honda, Toyota and General Motors, are being recalled over the problem. - Cover-up claims - Honda has been named in a US lawsuit as a defendant, which alleges it conspired with Takata to hide the flaw for years. Quoting former Takata employees, the New York Times has reported that secret tests were conducted a decade ago to investigate the issue, but executives ordered the destruction of data that exposed design flaws. Takata's Tokyo-listed shares have lost about half their value since an investigation was opened in June. Attention has focused on a Takata plant in Mexico, with suspicions the defect may be linked to a chemical propellant used to inflate the airbags which can more easily rupture in areas with high humidity. On Thursday, the company confirmed that it had changed the chemical makeup of its airbag propellants, but insisted the move wasn't linked to design flaws. "We constantly update our products -- it has nothing to do with the recalls," a Takata spokesman told AFP. Takata has warned over a bigger-than-expected annual loss, but its top executives have stayed largely silent on the crisis. Founded in 1933 as a textile company, Takata evolved into an automotive parts giant that started selling airbags in the 1980s and now has dozens of plants and offices in 20 countries, including the United States,China and Mexico. The airbag division accounts for about 40 percent of its total revenue, which amounted to 556.99 billion yen ($4.88 billion) last fiscal year. Major automakers have shied away from discussing their future relationship with Takata, but a quick switch is unlikely given the Japanese giant's foothold in the sector. Still, parts sourcing for the 2019-2020 model years is happening right now, and a Toyota executive last month said the world's biggest automaker wants to replace the defective part "with something of better quality".

STOMPer Burnt was shocked when hot oil came spurting from one of the escargots she and her husband had ordered at a restaurant in Bishan, scalding their faces. Said the STOMPer: "This evening, my husband and I were having dinner at a restaurant in Bishan. Among our orders, we ordered a portion of escargots, cooked in garlic and herb. "After it was served, I was attracted by the smell and put my face near the dish to take a whiff. Soon after, I shrieked as one of the escargots exploded and piping hot oil spurted from the dish. "The oil scalded areas of our faces and landed on my husband's pants and shirt. The staff on hand had no reaction and did not know how to handle the situation as it happened. "Only when we pressed a senior staff member for action, did she provide Burnol cream for the burn. No explanation and no refund was offered. To make matters worse, we noticed that the junior members were giggling at our predicament. "My husband then requested and was given the contact number of the manager (who was not in the store at the time). When my husband spoke to her, he was appalled to be told that this is not an isolated incident! "It has happened before and apparently this explosion is caused by 'butter and water in the escargot reacting' and 'nothing could be done to prevent this from occurring'. "The level of service and reaction from the manager is absolutely unacceptable! "Not 10 seconds after the explosion, a lady with a toddler in hand took the seat directly behind us. My question is, what if the toddler had been mesmerized by the dish (like me) and put his face near the bubbling escargot, only to have it ejected into his eye and oil splattered on the toddlers face? What then would happen? "This issue is very serious and the restaurant needs to cease selling this dish until these dangers are mitigated and solved! We have eaten escargots many other times at different restaurants before, and never once has such an explosion occurred. Something is very wrong! "Another incident which happened previously at the same branch, was that my colleague had ordered a salmon crepe. In the midst of cooking, the service staff had put in I think four pieces of salmon. Soon after, the manager walked over, whispered something in her ear, and then proceeded to take out one piece of salmon and put it back in the ingredients container! "All this in front of us, the customers' eyes. This incident shows that they are very unhygienic and calculative too. "So this restaurant has two strikes from me, and I'm never going back to patronise them ever again."

First they have plastic milk, now watermelon landmines. FIELDS of exploding watermelons are creating havoc in China, and farmers overdosing their crops with growth chemicals are getting the blame. About 20 farmers around Danyang city in Jiangsu province have been affected, losing up to 45 hectares of melon, China Central Television said in an investigative report. The broadcaster described the watermelons as "land mines" and said they were exploding by the hectare in the Danyang area. Prices during the past year have prompted many farmers to jump into the watermelon market. All of those with exploding melons apparently were first-time users of the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron, though it has been widely available for some time, CCTV said. Full article here

Story here This is old news but still scary nonetheless. A made in Tiong Kok chair exploded or shall I say a s s ploded, killing a teenager. Don't know why their stuff like to fail in ways nobody has imagined before.