‘Horribly painful death’
Kim Jong-nam suffered excruciating pain before slowly suffocating to death. Those are the effects of VX nerve agent, an odourless and colourless chemical that has no known uses but to kill and is listed as a weapon of mass destruction. The authorities wil
PETALING JAYA: It would appear that Kim Jong-nam died a “horribly painful” death, done in by a poison that required just a fraction of a teaspoon.
“It is a very frightening agent. “It was used in chemical warfare and I attended courses that studied its effects in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s,” former toxicologist of Universiti Sains Malaysia Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said.
“In this case, from what I see, it was dermal inhalation, which means it must be acute toxicity,” he added.
The VX nerve agent used on Jongnam was so potent that his assassins would have needed no more than 10 to 15mg for it to have been lethal, he said.
Dr Dzulkefly said VX acts on the nervous system, jamming it and causing the victim to die of suffoca- tion within minutes or seconds after contact.
“These neurotoxic agents act on enzymes of the neurochemical system, which then attempt to shut down your system. This is when the victim goes through suffocation and will eventually collapse,” he said when contacted.
At present, there is no antidote for high dosages of the VX agent.
On the two killers, Dr Dzulkefly said they could not have touched the chemical with their bare hands or even normal gloves as VX could be absorbed through the skin and cause severe poisoning.
“The women must have guarded themselves well and must have contained the liquid well until the point they had to put it on his face.”
Asked about one of the two killers who had vomited, Dr Dzulkefly said it was among the effects of VX.
“It happens when they are not properly protected.
“You can have diarrhoea and vomiting.
“But such levels of exposure would not lead to death as there are antidotes for it.
“But when the dosage is massive (10mg or above), then it is lethal,” he said.
Jong-nam died en route to Hospital Putrajaya after he was brought to the KLIA2 clinic.
Universiti Malaya toxicologist Prof Dr Mustafa Ali Mohd said the use of the chemical could depend on contact with water or a certain temperature for its impact to kick in.
“One woman could have smeared his face with water and the other sprayed or splash the chemical.
“The combination would cause the chemical to be absorbed effec- tively into the body,” he said when contacted.
Dr Mustafa said the woman who did the job could have had dry hands and did not have prolonged exposure when in contact with the chemical.
“If the women’s hands were very dry, the chemical may not enter the body but when in contact with the eyes, lips and nose which are moist, the chemical can enter the body fast especially if the temperature is warm.
“This could be the reason why the chemical worked effectively on Jong-nam but had little impact on the women,” he said.
Dr Mustafa said the woman could have also washed away the chemical with running water before it penetrated the skin or that the amount was too little to penetrate the skin.
On whether the poison would affect those in contact with Jongnam such as doctors, nurses and the police, he said the left-over chemical from Jong-nam’s hand that touched the information counter top or seats was likely to be negligible for it to have any effect.
However, Dr Mustafa said it was up to the authorities to verify the level of amount that could cause concern.
Dr Mustafa also added the question still remained as to how the women carried the chemical and in what form.
According to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, VX is one of the most toxic of known chemical warfare agents.
Exposure to VX can cause death in minutes.
As little as one drop of VX on the skin can be fatal.