Farmington teen says her replacement Samsung phone melted in her hand

A Farmington teen said a replacement Samsung smartphone melted in her hand on Friday, one of several reported incidents of phones catching fire despite a recent worldwide recall on the model because of safety concerns.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said that Samsung Electronics has temporarily halted production of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, a report not yet confirmed by Samsung.

Abby Zuis, 13, bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in August, said her father, Andrew Zuis. A month later, the company recalled the phones because they were exploding and catching fire, so Abby exchanged her phone and its equipment for a replacement model.

On Friday afternoon, Abby was holding her phone and waiting for her siblings to get out of school when her thumb suddenly became hot. Her phone started smoking, Andrew Zuis said.

She said her hand felt like "pins and needles times ten," her father said. "It was really bad."

She dropped it on the floor. The phone was a "charred mess," with the rubber case melted onto the phone, Andrew Zuis said.

Abby headed to the nurse's office to wash off her thumb, which was covered in soot. She later went to the doctor.

The incident comes after several reports of the same Samsung model — the replacement version — smoking and catching fire last week.

According to an Oct. 9 BBC story, a Kentucky man's Samsung Galaxy phone filled his room with smoke, and a plane heading to Baltimore was evacuated after a passenger's phone began smoking.

Citing an unnamed official at a Samsung supplier on Monday, Yonhap news agency reported that the tech giant took the unprecedented measure of ceasing production for consumer safety.

Samsung seemed to have the trouble under control but consumers started to report that the new Note 7, which replaced the recalled hazardous Note 7, also began to catch fire. Last week, authorities had to evacuate a Southwest Airlines flight when a replacement phone began emitting smoke.

Samsung Electronics did not respond to a request seeking confirmation.

Saturday afternoon, after the family did a TV interview, a Samsung representative messaged Abby's mother about the incident on Facebook.

"I don't count that as communication, not for this kind of severe incident," Andrew Zuis said.

Someone from the company later followed up by phone, saying the company wants to investigate.

Andrew Zuis said he's speaking to a lawyer about the incident Monday. The family hasn't decided if they're pursuing a lawsuit.

His daughter was lucky the phone wasn't in her pocket, Andrew Zuis said, calling the phone "a ticking time bomb."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.