Jong-nam died within 20 minutes, says Subra

KUALA LUMPUR: Kim Jong-nam died within 20 minutes of being poisoned, says Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

The amount of VX nerve agent given to Jong-nam would have been more than the lethal amount of 10 milligrams, he added.

“It only requires 10mg to be absorbed into the system to be lethal. So I presume that the amount he came into contact with was more than that and this is chemical agent absorbs well into the skin,” he said at the Heath Management Institute in Bangsar yesterday.

Dr Subramaniam added that the medical staff who attended to Jong-nam would be monitored for the next two to three weeks, saying that none of them showed any symptoms of being affected by the nerve agent.

“We will do follow-up checks to see whether there are delayed reactions,” said Dr Subramaniam.

On positive identification of Jong-nam’s body, he said that there were other ways should no next-of-kin come forward to claim Jong-nam’s body or provide a DNA sample.

“These include dental profiling and examining the body for identifying marks.

“If we have an idea of the deceased’s dental structure, then we can do a comparison and confirm his identity.

“There are other things on the body such as moles, and we can then compare them with photos of the deceased,” Dr Subramaniam said, adding that the ministry would be working with the police to obtain the required samples.

“The whole aim of an autopsy is to determine the cause of death. That has been done.

“The other challenge is the identification of the body, which is the next process.

“The best (way) would be to have the next of kin, a blood-related kin,” he added.

Jong-nam was killed by two women who wiped his face with a chemical at the KLIA2 departure hall at about 9am on Feb 13 as he was leaving for Macau.