Honda has announced that another person has been killed due to an exploding airbag from Takata.
Yesterday, the automaker’s U.S. division confirmed the death of a male in June 2016 was related to the rupture of a Takata airbag but unlike other deaths which have occurred during crashes, this death happened while the 2001 Honda Accord in question was stationary.
According to Honda, the male was performing repairs on the interior of the Accord with a hammer while the vehicle’s ignition switch was turned on. Somehow, the hammer activated the airbag and metal fragments were fired throughout the vehicle’s cabin, The Detroit News reports.
In a statement, Honda said “It is difficult to determine whether the cause of death in this incident was the inflator rupture, or an interaction of the hammer with the deploying air bag.
“While the absolute cause of death may never be fully determined, Honda now considers this to be the 11th confirmed fatality in its vehicles related to Takata airbag inflator ruptures in the U.S.”
A total of 17 people worldwide have been killed by Takata’s defective airbag inflators and more than 180 have been injured in the U.S. alone.
In June, Takata filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. and Japan and has agreed to sell its global assets to Chinese-owned Key Safety Systems for 175 billion Japanese yen ($1.59 billion).
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