No sign of heart attack or puncture marks, says Health D-G

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no evidence that Kim Jong-nam suffered a heart attack nor are there any puncture marks on his body.

Speaking at a press conference at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL), Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there was no evidence of a heart attack when asked about North Korea’s statement that the deceased died of a heart attack.

Asked if there were any wounds or puncture marks on the deceased’s body, Dr Noor Hisham said there was nothing obvious to suggest puncture marks or wounds.

He confirmed that no second autopsy was performed on the body.

He said the results of the analysis on the post-mortem examination, to confirm the identity of the deceased and the cause of death, were still pending.

Dr Noor Hisham also confirmed that Jong-nam’s next of kin had yet to come forward to identify the body.

Asked whether there were any signs suggesting that he died from poisoning, Dr Noor Hisham said: “We have to confirm with the laboratory before we can make any conclusive remarks.”

Dr Noor Hisham said they still did not have any access to medical records or any DNA sample.

On the post-mortem, he said the National Institute of Forensic Medicine at HKL received the body of a North Korean national from the investigating police officer for post-mortem on Feb 15 at 10am.

Dr Noor Hisham said the post-mortem was carried out at 12.45pm and completed at 6.45pm later that day, in accordance with Section 331 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He said the investigating officer was present throughout the post-mortem.

The body underwent a full post-mortem, including computed tomography, external and internal post-mortem examination as well as forensic dental examination, all of which were conducted in the same premises and with compliance to international standards.

He said the management of the body was done in a respectful way and medicolegal specimens taken were handled according to the provisions of the law to maintain the chain of custody.

“The medicolegal specimens were handed over to the investigating officers immediately after the post-mortem examination to be sent to accredited laboratories for analysis.