Following the incident, which has been described as an explosion, three staff members were treated for breathing difficulties from inhaling potentially noxious fumes that were released from the punctured battery.

When the iPad began fuming in what has been described by several media outlets as an explosion staff reacted quickly and placed the device in a sand bucket to contain the fire. To protect staff and customers the store, which is located in Amsterdam’s Leidseplein, was evacuated and temporarily closed until the vapours were fully ventilated by firefighters.

Apple has said it was investigating the incident and commented that: “Our staff were able to evacuate customers quickly and safely and the store re-opened shortly afterward. Apple website 9TO5Mac has said this is not an isolated incident and suggested the problems could be a result of the company’s new battery replacement programme.”

According to the site this not the first instance of a battery failure: “Apple stores in both Switzerland and Spain were evacuated this year after thermal events with iPhone batteries. Like today’s incident, fortunately those also didn’t see any major injuries, but Apple employees did sustain minor burns.”

Currently, it remains unclear if the iPad in question was a display model for use by the public or if it was in for a repair. It also is unknown which iPad model caused the explosion. If it was the most recent model, then Apple may have cause for concern as this raises the issue of quality control and a potential recall.

Additional Battery Woes for Apple

Similarly, in the 2016 Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 was recalled at great expense to the company as the device had the bothersome problem of overheating and catching fire. Although it saw consumers flocking to other brands for short time, ultimately the brand weathered the storm remarkably well and it is likely this will be true of Apple too.

However, Apple has been in hot water recently after it admitted to intentionally slowing down aging iPhones to mitigate the impact of failing lithium-ion batteries, which contain combustible components. As a result, Apple penned an open apology and began offering discounted battery replacements on out-of-date models.

Moving forward Apple has decided to move the production of its product components, which includes its batteries, from Taiwan to China in a bid to lower costs for upcoming devices. New iPhones and other iDevices will have batteries from Desay Battery Technology and Sunwoda Electronic.