KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Two women, both with fair skin and shoulder-length hair, walked up to an unsuspecting Mr Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, grabbed his face and splashed it with a lethal liquid that left him dead within hours.
One of the women was wearing a white top, a denim skirt and a blue backpack. The second woman was in a blue top and a pair of jeans. Both are believed to have features similar to Korean women.
After pulling off their daring act, they quickly walked out of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA2) terminal and took a taxi.
It all happened so quickly that Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and airport staff were oblivious to what had happened. It was only when Mr Kim Jong Nam approached a customer service officer to tell her of his pain that the horror of the attack came to light.
A CCTV screengrab showing a woman outside what looked like the airport circulated briefly after news broke on Tuesday night that Mr Kim Jong Nam had been killed in Malaysia. The Malaysian authorities did not confirm if the woman was one of the suspects.
It is believed that Mr Kim Jong Nam had arrived in Malaysia from Macau on Feb 6 and was about to leave when he was attacked.
"He told the receptionist at the departure hall that someone had grabbed his face from behind and splashed some liquid on him,'' said Selangor CID chief Senior Asst Comm Fadzil Ahmat.
"He asked for help and was immediately sent to the airport's clinic. At this point, he was experiencing headache and was on the verge of passing out," he said.
"At the clinic, the victim experienced a mild seizure. He was put into an ambulance and was being taken to the Putrajaya Hospital when he was pronounced dead."
He said police would investigate Mr Kim Jong Nam's movements in Malaysia and the people he had met in the country. They will also study CCTV footage from the airport.
"We have also received a request for the body from the North Koreans but we will perform the post-mortem first," he added.
