A mobile phone on the bed or bedside that exploded while being charged could have caused the bedroom fire and the death of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd CEO Nazrin Hassan yesterday, according to the family.

A message from the family that has been circulating on social media quoted Nazrin’s brother-in-law as claiming that at some point the phone had overheated and exploded, causing a blunt trauma at the back of Nazrin’s head and caused his death.

The mattress too had caught fire but Nazrin was already lifeless by then, said the brother-in-law whose name was not mentioned in the message.  

“He had two phones, one Blackberry and a Huawei. We don’t know which one exploded. Who would have thought such an innocuous routine procedure is the reason three young kids will grow up without their father by their side,” the message said.

According to the police, Nazrin was trapped in a bedroom fire at his double-storey terrace house in Mutiara Damansara yesterday and probably died of smoke inhalation. He had also suffered burns on his body.

The social media message also advised people to be more careful when charging their mobile phones, including considering a safe zone when doing so.

“Better yet, not in the bedroom. It’s worth the inconvenience of not having your mobile a hand’s reach away,” said the brother-in-law.

Cradle Fund is a Ministry of Finance company that looks into developing tech entrepreneurs and the Malaysian start-up ecosystem. It was the agency that gave early funding to successful companies like ride-hailing pioneer Grab (previously MyTeksi) and fintech start-up iMoney.

Meanwhile,  the Cradle Fund management, in a press release today, confirmed that the post-mortem report concluded the cause of death as complications from blast injuries attributable to an exploding handphone that was being charged next to him.

For over 15 years, Nazrin had dedicated his efforts to promoting early-stage funding for technology start-ups. Nazrin was educated in the United Kingdom and had a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B Hons) degree which he had obtained from the University of Buckingham in 1994.

 Cradle chief operations officer Razif Aziz said: “Cradle has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Nazrin have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor.”

Juliana Jan, chief investment officer of Cradle, said: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by this news. Having worked with him for many years, his vision and passion have brought endless possibilities to not just Cradle but to the start-up ecosystem.

“He touched and inspired us, the Cradle family, along with many start-up founders, investors and partners. He was a one-of-a-kind leader and visionary who made an incredible mark in the start-up ecosystem.” – Bernama, June 15, 2018.