Selangor Fire Dept: No conclusion yet that exploding cellphone killed Cradle CEO

KUALA LUMPUR (June 21): The Selangor Fire and Rescue Department has not concluded or even suggested that an exploding cellphone caused the death of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd CEO Nazrin Hassan.

According to a report by the Malay Mail, the department’s director Azmi Osman said his investigators are still waiting for the results from the laboratory.

Answers will be only known in about one to two weeks

“The statement that the cause of fire was from an exploding handphone that was charged next to him was made by the family, not us. It is still premature to establish anything yet.

“So far we are yet to rule out any other elements till the lab results are out,” he told the English daily.

Azmin also explained that investigators have taken all the evidence needed from the scene which include two mobile phones as well as reports of the fire pattern for lab submissions and analysis.

“Please wait, let’s not speculate anything yet. But to clear the air we did not say the cause was from a handphone explosion. Give us time to investigate,” Azmi said.

It was reported on June 14 that Nazrin died in a fire that had broken out in the 45-year-old’s room at his Mutiara Damansara home.

Cradle Fund then issued a statement that the cause of death was from complications of blast injuries due to an exploding handphone that was charging next to him according to a post mortem report.

A family friend told the media that he had retired to bed after taking some medication for his migraine pains.

Results of a preliminary investigation showed Nazrin likely died of smoke inhalation.

The police said he suffered burns on 30% of his body.

Cradle Fund is an early-stage start-up influencer that is under the Ministry of Finance.

It provided seed funding to firms such as ride-hailing company Grab and fintech start-up iMoney.