‘Kim Jong Nam died within minutes’
KUALALUMPUR: Malaysia’s health minister said on Sunday the dose of nerve agent given to North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un’s half brother was so high that it killed him “within 15-20 minutes.”
Health minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said Kim Jong Nam fainted at the airport clinic and died in the ambulance while en route to a hospital, he said.
“VX only requires 10 milligrams to be absorbed into the system to be lethal, so I presume that the amount of dose that went in is more than that,” he told a news conference.
“The doses were so high and it did it so fast and all over the body so it would have affected his heart, it would have affected his lungs, it would have affected everything.”
Asked how long it took for Kim to die after he was attacked, Subramaniam said, “I would think it was about from the time of onset (of attack) ... within 15-20 minutes.”
Experts say the nerve agent used to kill Kim Jong Nam was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory and is banned under an international treaty.
But North Korea never signed the treaty, and it has spent decades developing a complex chemical weapons programme.
‘KUALA LUMPUR AIRPORT IS SAFE’
Malaysia on Sunday declared its international airport a “safe zone” after completing a sweep of the terminal.
The police forensic team, fire department and Atomic Energy Licensing Board swept the budget terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA2) on Sunday.
“We confirm, number one, there is no hazardous material found in KLIA2, number two, KLIA2 is free from any form of contamination of hazardous material and thirdly, KLIA2 is declared a safe zone,” Abdul Samat Mat, the police chief of Selangor state who is leading the investigation, told reporters at the airport.
The location of the assault was cordoned off during the sweep but the rest of the terminal remained open.
Since the incident, tens of thousands of people have passed through the terminal, with the location of the assault remaining accessible.