Health Ministry still investigating food poisoning deaths of student and child in Gombak

PEKAN: The incident involving a Form Five student and a two-year-old girl who died due to food poisoning on Monday is still being investigated by the Health Ministry.

"The case will be addressed by the Division of Public Health, and the headquarters will issue a statement. For now, it is still under investigation," said Deputy Health Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni (pic) at a press conference after a working visit to the district health office (PKD) in Pekan, Pahang, on Tuesday (June 11).

Also present was Pahang Health Director Datuk Dr Rusdi Abd Rahman.

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On Tuesday, the media reported that the police had confirmed receiving two reports of death involving a 17-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl who died of suspected food poisoning from a religious school in Gombak.

Gombak district police chief ACP Noor Ariffin Mohamad Nasir was quoted as saying the teenager had eaten food brought back by his mother after attending a religious programme at the school on Saturday (June 8).

He said that after eating the food, the victim and his parents had diarrhoea, and at 1.30pm on Monday (June 10), the victim lost consciousness. The second victim ate the food brought by her father, who was on duty as a security guard at the school on Saturday, and was found to have a fever, vomiting, and diarrhoea around 10.45am on Monday.

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He said the bodies of the two victims were sent to the Selayang Hospital Forensic Unit for further action and that the case was classified as sudden death.

According to Noor Ariffin, the food in both cases was identified as fried bee hoon and eggs. – Bernama