SHAH ALAM: The condition of slain North Korean Kim Chol was consistent to that of a person poisoned with Organophosphate, a chemical compound found in the deadly nerve agent VX, the High Court heard.
A medical officer from the Putrajaya Hospital Dr R. Kalyani who was the 13th witness in the murder trial said external examination carried out on the victim's body showed that his death was different from cases the hospital usually encounter with.
"Usually, when a patient is brought in dead, or after 30 minutes of CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation), the pupils would be fixed and dilated. But with this victim, they were fixed but constricted.
"Most of the time, clinically, it's due to poisoning, specifically on Organophosphate," she said during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharuddin.
The witness said in Malaysia, Organophosphate can be commonly found in pesticides mostly in liquid forms
Kalyani added that when the substance is ingested or applied, it will cause a series of symptoms such as myosis, which is the constriction of eye pupils.
She was testifying in the trial of Indonesia Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, who are charged with murdering Kim Chol, along with four others still at large, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) on Feb 13.
Kalyani testified that when Kim Chol was brought to the Putrajaya hospital, there was no pulse and he showed no sign of life.
She added that after examining Kim Chol's body, the medical team initiated CPR on him for 30 minutes but stopped the process after that as there were no signs of return of spontaneous circulation.
"When he was brought to the hospital by the paramedics team from Menara Medical Clinic (in klia2), he was with an intubator and a manual bag and was unresponsive.
"He was not breathing. I did not know the name of patient at that time. I got to know his details after seeing his passport which was brought by the paramedics team," she said.
Kalyani who was on duty at the emergency department that day added the nurse who sent the victim to the hospital told the victim had claimed that "something" was sprayed on his face.
"The same nurse told me that the patient was walking and talking when he arrived at the clinic and later he started to sweat, develop seizures and subsequently collapsed in the clinic," Kalyani said.
She told the court that the nurse also told her that the victim was already administered with Adrenaline and Atropine medications (to revive and reverse the effect of poisoning) prior to his arrival at the hospital as he was experiencing episodes of hypotension.
"However, I could not confirm the real time of his death because we were unsure of when he really died," she said adding that the cause of death was unknown.
Trial continues before judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin tomorrow. Kim Chol, 45, who was claimed to be Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was killed using the highly toxic liquid nerve agent VX at klia2, about 9am on Feb 13.