Members of Malaysia’s Hazmat team conduct a decontamination operation at the departures terminal of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2) in Sepang on Feb 25, 2017. AFP Photo
KUALA LUMPUR: Civil defence personnel in hazmat suits sealed off the scene of the airport assassination of Kim Jong-Nam early Sunday to sweep the site for toxins — almost two weeks after he was killed with a lethal nerve agent.
Teams equipped with gas masks and specialised detection machinery descended on Kuala Lumpur international airport’s terminal two early Sunday, accompanied by forensic experts and officials from Malaysia’s Atomic Energy Licensing Board.
The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was assassinated on February 13 at the airport, with Malaysia revealing on Friday that the lethal VX nerve agent — manufactured for chemical warfare and listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction — was used to kill him.
Two women are seen shoving something into Kim’s face in leaked CCTV airport footage. The 45-year-old later suffered a seizure and was dead before he reached hospital.
Large sections of the terminal’s departures hall were cordoned off with police tape in preparation for the hour-long sweep for traces of the highly potent toxin as a few curious onlookers watched.
Student Hariz Syafiq, 21, who was due to take a domestic flight later, told AFP: “Yes, I’m worried a bit. Why didn’t they quarantine the airport?
“It’s a bit strange,” he said.
National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said Friday experts would sweep the airport terminal as well as other locations the two female suspects visited to ensure that there would be no risk to the public from the toxic agent. – AFP