Probe under way into deaths of elderly Johor couple after eating pufferfish
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A Malaysian couple, Ng Chuan Sing, 84, and Lim Siew Guan, 83, from Kluang, Johor, have died after eating pufferfish.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF NG AI LEE
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JOHOR BAHRU – Investigations into the deaths of a couple after they consumed pufferfish
He said the Johor Health Department took action as soon as the case was reported.
“The department has carried out an investigation on the ground to identify the supplier, wholesaler and seller of the pufferfish or ‘ikan buntal’.
“The state district health office has also opened an investigation paper under the Food Act 1983,” he said in a statement on Saturday night.
The state’s Health Department will also be holding discussions with the Fisheries Department, as well as several local universities with expertise on fishery and toxins or poisons, to find a holistic solution to the issue, he said.
“Information on pufferfish has also been posted on the Health Ministry’s Food Safety and Quality Facebook page on March 29 and 31 as well as April 1.
“We urge the public to be careful when choosing their food, especially if it has known risks.
“We would also like to express our condolences to the family members of the victims,” he said.
It was earlier reported that an 84-year-old man who was in an intensive care unit after eating pufferfish on March 25 had died on Saturday morning.
Mr Ling said that the man, Mr Ng Chuan Sing, was not responsive since around 5.20am when checked by a nurse.
“Emergency treatment was given immediately by medical officers for about 30 minutes before he was declared dead.
“The body of the victim was then handed over to the forensic unit before being given to the next of kin on the same day,” he said.
Mr Ng’s death came two weeks after his 83-year-old wife, Madam Lim Siew Guan, died on March 25.
The couple’s daughter, Ms Ng Ai Lee, said her father had asked about his wife shortly before he died. He did not know that Madam Lim had died.
“My father woke up from an eight-day coma. The first person he asked for was my mother. We told him she is resting at home.
“We did not tell him the truth because we were worried that he could not take it, but we had a feeling that he knew my mother had died. He cried,” she said.
An elderly Malaysian couple from Kluang, Johor have died after consuming pufferfish which they purchased from a fish seller.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NG AI LEE
Ms Ng said that after spending more than 10 days in the intensive care unit, her father was transferred to the normal ward on April 6.
“He looked fine and talked to me like usual. He asked about my mother again, and we still hid the sad news from him, telling him that mum was okay and asked him to focus on his own health and recovery,” she said of her last meeting with her father on Friday evening.
It was reported that the elderly couple had purchased the fish unknowingly from a fishmonger on March 25.
Madam Lim then fried the fish for lunch on the same day and began experiencing breathing difficulties and shivers after she ate the fish, while her husband started showing similar symptoms about an hour later. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
