Devastated family sues Amazon for £24m after hoverboard blaze almost killed their two children and burned down their home and all their possessions
Fox family feared their two teenage children were about to die in the raging inferno at their Nashville home
A FAMILY is suing Amazon for £24million after a hoverboard caused a fire that nearly killed two teenage siblings.
An inferno started when one of the toys caught alight destroying the Fox family's £800,000 home.
Things could have been far worse, with two of the family's four children trapped inside the burning building.
Luckily, the 14-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter escaped without major injury after leaping from a second floor building.
But dad Brian and mum Meg are now taking a number of companies to court over the fire that gutted their home in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Among them is Amazon, where the Foxes purchased the toy last Christmas.
They say the online retail giant sold the item knowing it was dangerous. It is one of ten companies the Foxes are taking action against following the terrifying blaze.
Lawyer Steve Anderson said: "The Foxes contend that Amazon and its various subsidiaries had information about the danger of this product well in advance of the January 9 fire.
"And on top of that, they had notice, they should have known the product was being misrepresented on their website."
Fire chiefs said the blaze had been started when the hoverboard's lithium battery sparked the fire.
Brian Fox told WKRN-TV: "The most horrific thing was obviously the episode that day and trying to rescue these two teenagers, and the profound impact on them.
"It’s also important to consider that literally in a matter of few minutes every single personal possession of this entire family was destroyed.
"The only things that remained were their vehicles and handful of books and pictures they were able to find that had water damage they were able to dry out. In the blink of an eye it was all gone."
He went on to describe how he feared he would lose his two teenage children when he realised they were still in the building.
Fox added: "I thought, 'I’m going to lose two of my four children today.'
"I was yelling to my daughter, 'Please jump, baby. Please jump.'”
Amazon has since removed some hoverboards from sale on its website but did not comment on the upcoming court case.
A spokesman for the online store said: "We do not comment on litigation."
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