Tech genius dies after his smartphone explodes while charging next to his bed

Cradle Fund CEO Nazrin Hassan passed away last week after a smartphone placed next to him, exploded while being charged and caused a fire in the bedroom, resulting in his death.

According to a report by The Malaysian Insight, Hassan's brother-in-law stated on social media, “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 police said that Nazrin was trapped in a bedroom fire at his double-storey terrace house in Mutiara Damansara and probably died of smoke inhalation. He also suffered burns on his body.

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, stated the report.

In an official statement, Cradle Fund said, "The post-mortem report concluded the cause of death as being complication of blast injuries attributable to an exploding hand phone that was being charged next to him." "Cradle has lost a passionate, innovative and humble leader and the startup community has lost an inspiring leader. His vision and love for innovation will always be at the core of what we do. Nazrin loved his work, but his greatest love was for his wife and children," it added.