Boys' death from eating waste leads to outpouring of sadness on social media

PETALING JAYA: The news of two brothers who died in Langkawi after apparently eating food waste from a rubbish bin has led to an outpouring of sympathy from many social media users who described the incident as heartbreaking.

Apart from mourning the deaths of the Myanmar boys aged two and four, at Kampung Baru Sungai Tepa near Bukit Malut, they also regretted that such things could happen in Malaysia.

Some took to Twitter to express their sadness.

"It doesn't matter if they are migrant children. If children have to eat from rubbish bins, shame on us.

“Children die from eating from rubbish bins, curse (laknat) us,” wrote @lcsmxms (Lucius Maximus) on Twitter.

“We often could not finish our food and caused wastage. However, these boys had to look for food in the trash. Soon, it will be the month of fasting, the month whereby many foods (sic) are served. A lot of food will be wasted. Do keep these children in mind and not waste food,” one user wrote.

“It is really sad to read this news. Two children ate garbage and died. No one in Malaysia should eat food from a garbage bin, ever,” wrote another Twitter user.

Meanwhile, Langkawi district police chief ACP Shariman Ashari said they detained the boys' 36-year-old father at police headquarters at 12.05am on Monday (Feb 14).

The man had just settled matters related to the death of his two sons, Nizambudin Jamaludin, four, and Ngei, two, at the hospital.

According to ACP Shariman, the boys died at about 6.15pm on Sunday (Feb 13) and the father tested positive for drugs.

"The man, a boat equipment repairman who also does odd jobs in the village, has been remanded for 14 days. The bodies of the two brothers were sent to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah in Alor Setar for a post-mortem,” he said in a statement.

ACP Shariman said the case was being investigated under Section 31 (1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Section 15(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

He said the man was homeless and staying at a neighbour’s house with his two sons while his wife was believed to have returned to Myanmar.