Thai man electrocuted to death after falling asleep next to charging phone

Sleeping with our phones next to us is a daily routine for many of us but for one young man in Chonburi, Thailand, it cost him his life.

Sastra Mo-in, 25, was electrocuted to death on Sept 27 after falling asleep next to a gaming console and two mobile phones, one of which was plugged into an extension cord and charging, reported local media.

At the time of his death, Sastra was staying with his aunt, Watchareeporn Mo-in, 57, who found his body the next morning at 11.30am when she entered the room to clean it.

Watchareeporn told reporters that she had noticed that Sastra was motionless. His skin had a purple tinge and his left hand, which was lying near the charging cords, also had red burn marks.

She immediately shut off the electrical supply in the house before calling the police.

Police confirmed that Sastra was dead after inspecting his body on the scene.

Following a post-mortem examination, police listed Sastra's cause of death as "electrocution by mobile phone" and said that they were not treating the death as suspicious.

According to Watchareeporn, Sastra was an avid gamer who would often play video games on his bed and fall asleep with his phones still plugged in.

In other similar instances, a Malaysian woman suffered burns when her charging phone exploded and an Indonesian girl was electrocuted to death while she was playing with a charging phone during a storm.

ALSO READ: Malaysian man severely burnt after phone explodes on his chest

kimberlylim@asiaone.com