Teen girl killed by exploding Takata air bag

Associated Press

DETROIT

An exploding Takata air bag has claimed another life, this time a 17-year-old girl whose car crashed near Houston.

The girl is the latest victim of malfunctioning air-bag inflators that have killed 10 people in the U.S. and another in Malaysia, touching off the largest automotive recall in U.S. history. More than 100 people have been hurt by the inflators, which can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and sending shards into drivers and passengers.

The girl, from Richmond, Texas, was driving a 2002 Honda Civic in Fort Bend County, Texas, when the car rear-ended another vehicle and the air bags went off, said Deputy Sheriff Danny Beckworth, who investigated the crash. Shrapnel hit the girl’s neck, killing her, said Beckworth.