An 18-year-old man lost his life due to electrocution while charging his mobile phone on a bus in Malaysia. The incident took place on November 1 at the Penang Sentral bus terminal in Butterworth, shortly after he boarded an express bus heading to Kuala Lumpur. According to the Independent, the teen plugged his phone into a bus socket to charge it. About ten minutes later, passengers heard him scream and noticed him foaming at the mouth. Witnessing the horrific scene, fellow passengers swiftly called emergency services. Emergency responders arrived at the scene around 6:20 pm local time. Tragically, paramedics pronounced the 18-year-old victim dead shortly after arrival.
An autopsy later confirmed electrocution as the official cause of death. According to the bus driver, the victim appeared to have suffered a severe electric shock, with burn marks visible on the fingers of his left hand. The charging cable had melted, and the phone had overheated, pointing to a critical failure of the electrical system.
''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. 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,'' Mr Abdul Rahman, assistant commissioner of police, said in a statement, according to The Straits Times.
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. He added that the task force has been given a deadline of two weeks to provide a full report on the incident.
