Prank gone wrong: Malaysian teen dies after friends started fire in toilet

A prank between friends turned into a tragedy after a 16-year-old boy died in a fire in Malaysia on Sunday (Aug 28).

The incident happened at an abandoned toilet some 30 km northwest of Kuala Lumpur at Bandar Puncak Alam, Malaysian news outlet Berita Harian reported.

Speaking to the Star, Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Norazam Khamis said that Damin Kansol was asleep on a sofa in front of a toilet while two of his friends were playing mobile games inside.

One of them lit a fire under the sofa as a prank, Norazam said, adding that the flames got bigger and smoke soon filled the toilet.

Damin's friends fled out of the toilet, but the former did the opposite.

"Damin woke up and in a semi-conscious state, accidentally ran inside," Norazam said, adding that firefighters discovered the boy's charred remains after putting out the fire.

"His body was handed over to the police for further action," the Selangor fire chief shared. 

In other pranks that had gone wrong, several youths landed in hospital with serious head injuries after they were tripped by people for social media content in 2020.

Described as the Skullbreaker challenge, the videos were later removed on TikTok for violating community guidelines.

And in July 2017, a two-year-old toddler fell to her death in China after her older playmates deliberately left her alone in the lift.

Investigations later showed that the girl, named Lily, had fallen over the 18th floor as it did not have a protective glass shield attached.

chingshijie@asiaone.com