Samsung Electronic says a laptop battery melts

SEOUL (Reuters) - A battery in a Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) notebook computer melted on Sunday, officials from the company and South Korea's fire department said.

The notebook battery emitted smoke after being used for about three and a half hours on a pillow, a fire department official in Seoul told Reuters by telephone.

The battery burned a bed and a floor a bit, but did not cause a big fire, he added.

A Samsung's spokesman said the notebook was the P10 model, which was produced in 2002 but did not give further details such as a producer of the battery.

"We are checking details of the incident," James Chung, the company spokesman, said by telephone.

Last month, a battery pack in a LG Electronics Inc's (066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) notebook computer exploded while in the sleeping mode.

(Reporting by Cheon Jong-woo; Editing by Richard Hubbard)