New Zealand

Fire in recalled washing machine investigated

16:00 pm on 4 May 2013

Electronics company Samsung has begun an investigation after one of its washing machines involved in a product recall caught fire at an Auckland house.

A company spokesperson says fire crews were called to a Grey Lynn house on Friday after a family discovered the washing machine ablaze in an outhouse.

The top-loading washing machine is one of 36,000 sold in New Zealand that are being recalled because of concerns they are a fire hazard.

There have been 15 reports of the machines catching fire in Australia but this is the first report here.

The spokesperson says Samsung's vice-president of engineering is on his way to New Zealand to investigate whether the fire was caused by a fault in the machine.