Teen Badly Injured When Vape Pen Explodes At Brooklyn Mall

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A teenage boy suffered serious injuries when a vaporizer he was holding blew up in his face.

After five days of recovery in a hospital bed, the 14-year-old boy was left with permanent injuries after his attorney said he was maimed and blinded by an exploding e-cigarette or vape pen.

"I was shocked, I couldn't -- I was bleeding out of my nose," Leor Domatov said.

Domatov said he was at the Kings Plaza Shopping Center in Brooklyn with friends when they approached a kiosk called Plaza Vapes.

"The guy was showing me different products of the vaporizers. He connected one of the vaporizers to the battery at the store," he said. "When he gave it to me to hold, it exploded in my hands and my face."

Domatov now wears sunglasses after the explosion sent shrapnel flying into his eyes.

"My left eye, I can't see anything right now cause I got a cut through my cornea, and in my right eye I have a little bit of vision," he said.

At first, Domatov wasn't sure what had happened. Then he realized he was bleeding.

"I see like red stuff on the floor, and I'm like 'oh my god, is this blood?' So I start crying, why does it hurt me in my hands?" he said.

Domatov's attorney Marc Freund intends to sue both the shopping center and the kiosk.

"They don't ask him for any ID, nothing, and they're showing him different kinds of products and there are no signs up that reflect state and city law. It's illegal to sell these products to anyone under the age of 21," he said.

The kiosk now has a sign posted that reads, "Must be 21 to purchase any product, we ID all."

Freund claims the notice went up after the incident.

The corporate management offices for Kings Plaza did not return a request for comment. The kiosk worker there on Thursday said he could not speak to the incident or provide a phone number for the manager.