KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has set up a special task force to investigate the death of a teenager who allegedly died from electrocution while charging his mobile phone at a socket on an express bus in Penang.
According to national daily Utusan Malaysia, Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that the task force will include representatives from the Road Transport Department (JPJ), the Land Public Transport Agency, and the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros).
Loke confirmed that the Land Public Transport Agency has been directed to suspend the operations of the bus involved immediately to allow for a thorough investigation by the JPJ.
“The Ministry of Transport is taking this incident seriously, as it resulted in the death of a teenager while he was charging his phone on the bus,” he said during a press conference on the NGV Vehicle Policy Announcement at Petronas Cochrane Perkasa here, today.
He added that the task force has been given a deadline of two weeks to provide a full report on the incident.
“If necessary, the MoT will introduce special conditions for buses equipped with such facilities,” Loke said.
Yesterday, Mohamad Nur Asymawi Jasmadi, 18, was found dead on board a bus at Penang Sentral bus terminal.
Initial investigations by the police revealed burn marks on the victim’s left fingers, suspected to have been caused by electrocution.
Additionally, the end of the charging cable was found melted, and the victim’s mobile phone was reported to be hot.
