Nam died within 20 minutes of poisoning: Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s health minister said Sunday that 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.”

Kim Jong Nam died Feb. 13 at Kuala Lumpur’s airport in what Malaysian police say was a well- planned hit by two women who wiped a liquid on Kim’s face. Police revealed Friday that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim, raising the stakes significantly in the case.

Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said the dose of VX given to Kim was so high that he showed symptoms within minutes.

Kim fainted at the airport clinic and subsequently died in the ambulance while en route to a hospital, he said.

Hospital doctors suspected from the start that Kim had been given a form of toxic chemical agent due to the rapid symptoms, Subramaniam 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.”