A teenager died in Malaysia after being electrocuted while charging his phone on a bus.
Nur Asymawi Jasmadi, 18, died on 1 November at the Penang Sentral bus terminal in Butterworth, shortly after boarding the bus en route to Kuala Lumpur.
The teenager tried to use a socket on the bus to charge his phone at around 6pm (local time), assistant commissioner of police Anuar Abdul Rahman said.
The fellow passengers reportedly heard the victim scream about 10 minutes after he connected the phone to the charger on the bus. The driver said the teenager appeared to have suffered severe electric shock with prominent burn marks on his left hand.
“An initial investigation revealed burn marks on the victim’s left fingers, suspected to be from an electric shock while he was charging his phone,” Mr Abdul Rahman said in a statement, according to The Straits Times.
The authorities drew the conclusion from the melted charging cable and the overheated mobile phone. Fellow passengers, who saw the foam-like substance coming out of the teenager's mouth, immediately called the emergency services, who arrived at around 6.20pm (local time).
Paramedics pronounced the victim dead shortly after arriving at the scene. An autopsy later confirmed the cause of death to be electrocution.
Malaysian transport minister Anthony Loke said the department would form a special task force to investigate the incident.
"The transport ministry treats this electric shock incident, which tragically resulted in the death of a teenager while he was charging his phone on the express bus, with utmost seriousness," he said in a statement, according to Free Malaysia Today.
“The special task force will investigate the cause of the incident to ensure it does not recur and that the safety of passengers will be guaranteed,” he added.
He said the task force would comprise three agencies, including the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research.
