Skip to main content

Boy dies after being electrocuted through his headphones

A 16-year-old Malaysian boy is dead, and his cellphone, headphones, and charger appear to be the reason why. Mohd Aidi Azzhar Zahrin was found lifeless by his mother last week, the victim of electrocution, the New Straits Times reports. “She 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 told the Malaysian newspaper “There was bleeding in the boy’s left ear.”

It’s not the first time someone has died from electrocution due to some faulty gear. Though it’s rare, there are some notably similar incidents from the recent past, including:

Recommended Videos

Why do these events keep happening, even though they’re hardly commonplace? In some instances, it’s poor judgement. After all, any electrical device and water, don’t mix. We’re taught that almost as early as “look both ways before crossing the street,” but for some reason, our cellphones just don’t look as intimidating as a hair dryer or toaster.

At other times, it’s faulty equipment. Keep in mind, even though the chargers and cables that came in the box with your new smartphone, are probably tested and approved by major safety certification labs, this is not always the case.  More worryingly is the enormous number of aftermarket products sold online that either receive no testing, or have had their certifications faked. We strongly recommend that you only by products that have been certified safe by UL, CSA, Intertek, TUV, or one of the other third-party safety labs. The “CE” mark may look like a lab certification, but it is not.

Electrical surges can happen almost anywhere at any time. A surge related to a possible lightning strike may have killed a 17-year-old Brazilian girl, whose injuries were consistent with those of Zahrin. The only way to completely avoid this, is to never use a phone that is connected to a wall charger. You can’t count on the charger or the phone to insulate you from a massive power spike, and even modern electrical panels have been known to fail during these events.

So check your gear, keep it away from the bathtub, and avoid using it while charging. Whether it’s music or Messenger, we’re pretty sure it can wait.

Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
The best Prime Day audio deal I found comes from an unexpected brand
It doesn't get better than this in the audio segment, and certainly not at this discounted price.
Apple AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C and MagSafe review

I test all kinds of audio gear around the year, and every time someone asks me about AirPods, I religiously suggest a few alternatives. It’s not because the AirPods are bad. Far from it, actually. It’s just that they are a little too pricey for what they offer, especially when it comes to the Pro model.

While they excel at noise cancellation and transparency, they can’t quite deliver the kind of rich audio when pitted against the likes of Sony’s WF-1000 and Sennheiser’s Momentum series earbuds. The margin, I'll add, is very small. Plus, terms like "price cut," "discounts," and "deals" don't often play well with Apple's premium reputation, so you rarely see them at a bargain point.

Read more
Plaud Note, the professional-tier AI notetaker, is 20% off for Prime Day
Four colleagues have a conversation around a Plaud Note AI notetaker.

Lately, as I've been working through stressful hospital visits with family, I've encountered something I haven't in quite awhile. As I hear doctors, nurses, and family say things, I'll be completely unable to remember them moments later. There's just too much going on all at once. Early in my career I encountered the same issue. There were just so many new facets of what I was doing entering my head all at once, from many sources, that it was impossible to keep track of it all. If only there were AI notetaking tools that have helped me through this. AI notetaking tools like Plaud Note and Plaud NotePin, which are both 20% off for Prime Day (from $159 to $127 for either device, saving you $32) and available by tapping the button below.

PLAUD Note Voice Recorder

Read more
Anker Products were already on sale — then Prime Day dropped the price further
A man at a laptop with an Anker Prime Charging Station.

It's summer and Prime Day 2025 is here. That means, if you're a business owner, you might consider putting things on sale. But what are you to do if your things are already on sale? You could just continue the sale you have. But that's not what Anker, creator of popular power banks and charging stations, has done. Instead, they put their sale on sale. Here's the absolute best of what Anker has to offer at this time, as well as their great new price.

Anker Prime Charging Station (8-in-1, 240W) — Was $149.99 with 33% off, now is $99.99

Read more