Panasonic recalls over 1.6 million clothes dryers due to fire hazard

Japan’s Panasonic is recalling 1.6 million clothes dryers manufactured since 2003 under the National and Panasonic brands after several fire incidents. About it says in a company statement.

There have been 11 reported product fires in Japan, with another incident in Hong Kong, Panasonic said. No one was injured in the incidents. The company acknowledged that a design error was the cause of the fire.

“In order to prevent accidents, we will announce a recall of this product,” the statement said.

The company also published data on dryers that are subject to recall. The tables show the serial numbers, the year of production and the number of vehicles. In total, more than 1.6 million dryers are planned to be recalled in Japan and Hong Kong.

In 2014 Panasonic withdrew over 200,000 Let’s note laptops due to a battery defect that could cause the computer to overheat and catch fire. The SF-S10 and CF-N10 models manufactured between April and July 2011 are subject to maintenance. In the same year, the company reported about the recall of 1 million Eco Cute water heaters due to the threat of explosion due to metal corrosion.