An unidentified man in West Virginia is the 21st person to die worldwide due to exploding Takata air bag inflators. Details of the crash weren’t available other than the man was driving a 2006 Ford Ranger when the death occurred July 1. Ford said it was notified of the death Dec. 22 and inspected the vehicle Dec. 27. Nineteen auto and truck makers are recalling up to 69 million inflators in the U.S. and 100 million worldwide because they can explode with too much force and hurl shrapnel at drivers and passengers. The deaths have occurred since May of 2009:
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— May 27, 2009: Ashley Parham, 18, of Midwest City, Oklahoma, 2001 Honda Accord
— Dec. 24, 2009: Gurjit Rathore, 33, of Richmond, Virginia, 2001 Honda Accord
— Sept. 13, 2013: Hai Ming Xu, of Alhambra, California, 2002 Acura TL
— July 27, 2014: Law Suk Leh of Sibu, Malaysia, 2003 Honda City
— Sept. 7, 2014: Jewel Brangman, 26, of California, 2001 Honda Civic
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— Sept. 29, 2014: Hien Thi Tran, 51, of Orlando, Florida, 2001 Honda Accord
— Jan. 18, 2015: Carlos Solis, 35, of Spring, Texas, 2002 Honda Accord
— April 15, 2015: Kylan Langlinais, 23, of Lafayette, Louisiana, 2005 Honda Accord
— July 22, 2015: Unidentified 13-year-old boy, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, 2001 Honda Accord
— Dec. 22, 2015: Joel Knight, 52, of Kershaw, South Carolina, 2006 Ford Ranger
— March 31, 2016: Huma Hanif, 17, of Fort Bend County, Texas, 2002 Honda Civic
— April 16, 2016: Unidentified person, Sabah State, Malaysia, 2006 Honda City. Inflator ruptured, no death cause determined.
— May 1, 2016: Unidentified person, Malaysia, 2003 Honda City. Inflator ruptured, no death cause determined.
— June, 2016: Unidentified person in Malaysia. Inflator ruptured, no death cause determined.
—June 19, 2016: Ramon Kuffo, 81, Hialeah, Florida. Inflator ruptured while he was repairing interior of car.
— Sept. 24, 2016: Unidentified driver, Johor State, Malaysia, 2009 Honda City. Inflator ruptured, no death cause determined.
— Sept. 30, 2016: Delia Robles, 50, of Corona, California, 2001 Honda Civic.
— July 1, 2017: Steve Mollohan, 56, of West Virginia, 2006 Ford Ranger.
— July 10, 2017: George R. Sharp, 61, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2004 Honda Civic.
— July 13, 2017: Unidentified 58-year-old man in suburban Sydney, 2007 Honda CR-V.
— July 19, 2017: Nichol Lynn Barker, 34, of Holiday, Florida, 2002 Honda Accord.
Sources: Associated Press archives, Center for Auto Safety, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Honda Motor Co., legal documents and police reports
