Badly swollen Galaxy battery - safe to handle?

I've recently found my old Galaxy S6 in a drawer, where it's been sitting for the last ~1.5 years. In that time, the battery has swollen very badly, pictures below: I need to so something about the phone, as I feel it might be a fire hazard to keep this at home especially when I'm not present during the day. Naturally I'm not going to attempt to charge the battery or turn the phone on in this state. I would like to remove the battery and take it to a recycling/ewaste collection point. I'd make sure to take precautions when removing the battery to avoid puncturing it or applying pressure, but with this level of swelling, is just handling the phone/battery dangerous? If so, I could instead take it to a technician to remove the battery or just recycle the entire phone - but I'd still need to carry the phone there, obviously, so some risk would remain. Is there a risk of a sudden explosion or fire without warning?