A 18-year-old boy died after he was electrocuted while charging his phone using a socket on the bus in Malaysia.
According to reports, passengers heard the victim scream moments after he had connected his phone to the charger on the bus.
Asian News Network reported that Mohamad Nur Asymawi Jasmadi was found dead on an express bus at Penang Sentral with burn marks on his fingers believed to be caused by electric shock while charging his phone.
The publication spoke to Professor Law Teik Hua, from Universiti Putra Malaysia in the faculty of engineering, who said that even though the incident was rare, it was time that the charging ports in express buses were included as part of the vehicle inspection checklist by Puspakom-- the current sole provider of land vehicle inspection in the country.
“There must be a guideline to check these charging ports on long distance buses as we are talking about the safety of many passengers.
“On top of the checks by Puspakom, Sirim QAS International should ensure all electrical and electronic goods fitted by the bus builder in roadworthy express buses are approved by Sirim and ST to ensure public safety,” Law was quoted saying.
Meanwhile, Pan Malaysian Bus Operators Association president Datuk Mohamad Ashfar Ali, told the publication that a knee-jerk solution should not be the answer.
“Not all express buses come fitted with charging ports or sockets. If they do have an inspection of such ports or sockets that are not in the inspection checklist, it is now up to the Transport Ministry to include it in. This is because only the ministry can expand the checklist.
“Although the fatal electrocution is a rare case, we have to work together to ensure there is no repeat. For us bus operators, we would like the authorities to conclude their investigations before we decide on the solutions.
“We do not want knee-jerk solutions as we want appropriate solutions,” Ashfar was quoted as saying.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
IOL News