BUTTERWORTH: The family of a youth who died of electrocution while charging his phone using the socket on a bus has accepted the tragedy and does not want to pursue the issue.
The victim's grandmother, Salmiah Humzah, 82, fondly known as Tok, expressed her sorrow over the death Mohamad Nur Asymawi Jasmadi, 18, whom she raised.
"My son (Asymawi's father) is not in good health, so he and his four children have been living with me.
"Asymawi's father, uncle, aunt and me cared for him and his three siblings. I accept this. Allah has taken my grandson because it was his time to leave," she said when met at her home in Kampung Mesra Bagan Lalang today.
When asked about Asymawi's trip to Kuala Lumpur, Salmiah said the family was unaware of his plans until they received a phone call from the police about the incident.
"On the day it happened, he told everyone he was going somewhere.
"When asked where he was headed, he said he was going on a long trip. We thought he was just joking around because he was always so cheerful and loved to tease.
"However, not long after, the police called my other grandchild (Asymawi's cousin) to inform us that Asymawi had died of electrocution on the bus. We were shocked," she said.
She said Asymawi, the eldest of four siblings, was buried at the Sungai Puyu Muslim Cemetery after Asar prayers yesterday.
Salmiah hoped that bus companies would perform regular maintenance to ensure that what happened to her grandson did not occur to other passengers.
"We have not been informed whether Asymawi had insurance. My son is currently trying to find out.
"I sincerely hope that, given what happened to my grandson, all bus companies will be more careful and conduct frequent maintenance to prevent this from happening again," she said.
Asymawi was on an express bus at the Penang Sentral bus terminal. The bus was scheduled to depart for Kuala Lumpur Sentral.
Seberang Prai Utara police chief Assistant Commissioner Anuar Abdul Rahman said police were alerted about the incident at 7.40pm.
He said initial investigations revealed burn marks on the youth's left fingers, believed to have resulted from electrocution while charging his phone using the socket on the bus.
He added that the end of the charging cable had melted and the phone overheated.
The post-mortem report revealed the youth died from electrocution.