Two girls in Kulim collapse in searing equinox weather

ALOR SETAR: The equinox “knocked out” two girls, one in Form Three and another, a 19-year-old undergraduate, in Kulim.

The 15-year-old girl fainted after school and was rushed to a clinic on Sunday.

“She went to the playground near her home and fainted while playing with friends.

“The undergraduate collapsed at home,” said state Health director Datuk Dr Norhizan Ismail, adding that both cases were diagnosed as heat exhaustion.

“The older girl’s kampung house has zinc roof sheets and that could have caused the heat to build up inside her house.

“By late afternoon, it was too much for her and family members rushed her the Kulim hospital,” Dr Norhizan said.

He advised Kedahans to stay out of the sun and drink lots of water.

Meanwhile, some parents here have already stopped sending their children to school, ahead of the government order to close schools in Kedah and Perlis.

Grandfather Ang Choon Hai was concerned over the heat as he waited for his grandson to come out of school.

“We didn’t let him go to school on Sunday because he was having the sniffles.

“But he pleaded to us that he wanted to go to school today,” said the 72-year-old yesterday as he waited outside his grandson’s school – SJK (C) Keat Hwa Cawangan K in Jalan Keat Hwa.

State Education Committee chairman Datuk Tajul Urus Mat Zain said many schools reported a slight decline in attendance.

“The Education Ministry made the right move in closing all schools and urging parents to keep their children indoors.

“It’s sports season for most local schools but they have been told to postpone all their sporting events.

“The schools have also been advised to stop all their other outdoor activities,” he said.

Keat Hwa Cawangan K senior assistant Lim Poh Ee said 34 students were absent on Sunday and 23 yesterday.

Malaysian Meteorological Department’s weather stations in Alor Setar recorded a temperature of 36ºC at 4pm yesterday while Chuping in Perlis was still sweltering at 37ºC. By 6pm, however, Alor Setar’s temperature reading had dropped to 33ºC and Chuping 36ºC.

A 48-year-old teacher from SK Lubuk Buntar in Serdang, Kedah, collapsed and died while delivering her speech during the school assembly.

Suzana Ishak was speaking at the assembly when she suddenly complained of dizziness and asked her colleagues to help her finish her speech.

Moments later, she collapsed, and was immediately sent to the Parit Buntar hospital, where she was pronounced dead on Sunday.

A post-mortem, however, found that she had died of heart attack and not from heatstroke as reported on social media.