Teen Electrocuted To Death From Using Headphones While Charging Phone

A Malaysian teen died last Monday after he was electrocuted to death while using his headphones on his plugged-in phone.

Mohammed Aidil Azzahar Zaharin, 16, fell asleep with headphones at his home in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, while his phone was being charged.

His mother saw him lying on the floor the following morning, however, thought he was sleeping and left for work. She decided to head home to check on her son after she felt uneasy at work. When she reached home, she found him lying unresponsive and realized he was dead.

"While at work, she felt uneasy and decided to return home to check on her son. At home, she found him in the same position. She then tried to wake him up and as she touched him, the boy's body felt cold," District police Chief Deputy Superintendent Anuar Bakri Abdul Salam said, New Straits Times reported.

The devastated mother then contacted a nearby clinic and a medical officer reached the house and declared the boy dead.

"Checks showed no sign of bruises or injuries. However, there was bleeding in the boy's left ear," Salam said. “The medical officer later confirmed that the boy had died hours earlier.".

A postmortem later revealed the cause of death was electrocution. The boy’s brother too felt a small electric shock when he touched the headphone cable.

In a similar incident earlier this year, a Brazilian teen was electrocuted to death while using her charging mobile phone as the headphones “melted in her ears”.

The body of Luiza Pinheiro, 17, was found by a relative at her home in Riacho Frio, Brazil. She was found lying unresponsive and her phone, plugged into a charger, was destroyed by a "huge electric charge,” Sun reported. She was taken to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead.

"The girl's grandmother told the doctor that they found her granddaughter unconscious, lying on the floor and with headphones in her ears. They said they believe that the young woman had an electric shock because the cell phone was charging and the phone was melted, “the hospital spokesperson said.

"It is stated in the medical record that the girl was admitted to the hospital one hour after the electric shock,” the spokesperson added, local tabloid Globo reported.

In another similar incident last June, a Texas teen was found lying unresponsive in her bathtub with her phone plugged into an electrical outlet on the wall. Burn marks were found in her hand, which her family believes were caused from holding the phone.

Following this incident, Dr. Tseng King Jet, programme director of Electrical Power Engineering at Singapore Institute of Technology, gave tips to avoid electrocution. He advised people to use power bank if they really want to use the phone while it is being charged and also use original charger supplied by the phone company. People should refrain from touching power banks or chargers with wet hands, he said, Straits Times reported.