The family of a young model killed in a fire caused by an e-bike battery is calling for tougher laws following an inquest into her death.
Sofia Duarte, 21, died on January 1, 2023, when a blaze sparked by a lithium-ion battery pack ripped through flats in Bermondsey, London, where her boyfriend lived.
Sofia’s boyfriend and four other occupants managed to escape but Sofia died at the scene.
The Portuguese model’s family is now calling on the British government to restrict where the electronic vehicles are stored.
Sofia, they said, might still be alive today if the bike hadn’t been charging at the entrance and only exit to the flats.
The inquest heard two bikes – a manufactured e-bike and a converted ‘retro-fitted’ push bike with a battery pack – were found on the ground floor of the flats.
The fire was said to have been caused by an unbranded battery pack fitted to the converted bike that was also on charge at the time of the fire.
Buying unregulated battery packs online carries ‘significant risks’, London Fire Brigade (LFB) officials told London’s Inner South Coroner’s Court.
They are often paired with separately bought chargers which are incompatible with the e-bikes.
The inquest heard Ms Duarte and her boyfriend had both finished shifts behind the bar of a nightclub on New Year’s Eve and travelled back to the latter’s flat.
While in bed, their flats were suddenly rocked by a loud explosion at around 4.50pm.
By the time Ms Duarte’s boyfriend had awoken and opened his bedroom door, the hallway was filled with black smoke.
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He jumped from his bedroom window onto the roof of a shop below, encouraging his partner to follow him.
But it’s believed Ms Duarte, who would now be 23, instead tried to escape out the entrance and was found dead in the hallway of the second floor of the building.
A report by LFB Officer Stephen Elliott found the fire erupted on the ground floor, where two e-bikes had been leaning against a wall.
Reading from the document, Assistant Coroner Xavier Mooyaart said: ‘The cause of the fire was attributed to battery failure from a retrofitted e-bike. The melting of the battery enclosure shows the batteries had been in a high state of charge.
‘This fire appeared to have started due to the internal failure of the lithium-ion cells in the battery pack. [Sofia’s] boyfriend jumped out of the bottom window and encouraged her to do the same – but she tried to get out another way.
‘Two e-bikes were originally located on the ground floor hallway and reported to be leaned against a wall. One of these bikes was manufactured, the other was retrofitted.’
LFB recently warned that the frequency of e-bike-related fires has rocketed in recent years, after another flat fire in Whitechapel, east London.
Mr Elliott concluded that the battery pack was the source of the fire but added it was not possible to say the exact reason the pack had caught fire – such as it not being compatible with the charger used – as it was ‘unbranded’.
Mr Mooyaart recorded a conclusion of accidental death, adding there was ‘insufficient evidence’ of what caused the battery to catch fire to prepare a Prevention of Future Deaths Report (PFDR) about the battery.
Coroners can write special reports known as PFDRs if they feel an inquest shows more people could die in similar circumstances. The report is then sent to relevant public officials or companies.
Mr Mooyaart said: ‘This happy young woman was killed in a house fire she had no role in.[The fire] arose from a battery pack of a retrofitted e-bike that was on charge in the entrance hallway [to the flats]. She was unable to escape.
‘A battery fire caused her death but we don’t know whether it was being incorrectly charged, whether the cells malfunctioned… In this inquest, the evidence is insufficient to write a PFDR.’
Alda Simoes, a close family friend of Ms Duarte who helped the girl’s mother, Maria Frasquilho Macarro, in translating the inquest, pleaded for the coroner to consider writing a PFDR encouraging MPs to consider changing e-bike law.
‘One of the things we are asking is for the government to change where people charge their bikes. It was the only exit of the house. There was no way to escape,’ the 46-year-old said.
‘That, for me, should be presented to the government as a preventable death. The government should bring some rules in for storage…then Sofia could have survived.
‘There are more cases like this, of people trapped inside. This is a public safety matter, not a political matter. We can’t do it on our own.
‘People like you can take it further.’
After hearing Ms Simoes’ heartfelt plea, Mr Mooyaart said he would reconsider the evidence and decide whether a report is necessary.
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