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Kim Jong Nam suffered painful death within 20 minutes of attack: minister

Malaysian police sealed off large areas of Kuala Lumpur International Airport to sweep for traces of the nerve agent VX

Kim Jong-Nam was dead within 20 minutes of being attacked and would have suffered a "very painful death" as his major organs shut down, Malaysia's health minister said Sunday.

The estranged half-brother of the North Korean leader was killed with lethal nerve agent VX, police have revealed, after he was ambushed at Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13.

Two women can be seen shoving something into Kim's face in leaked CCTV footage of the brazen assassination before he seeks help.

"He died in the ambulance. He fainted in the clinic," Health Minister S. Subramaniam told reporters.

"From the time of the onset (of the attack) he died within 15 to 20 minutes."

Autopsy results suggested the 45-year-old died from "very serious paralysis" due to a lethal nerve agent, Subramaniam said earlier Sunday.

Police are holding two women suspected of staging the attack as well as a North Korean man.

They want to speak to seven other North Koreans including a senior embassy official, but four of the suspects fled Malaysia on the day of the murder.

VX is so deadly it is listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction and overnight the scene of the killing in the budget terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport was swept by civil defence personnel in hazmat suits before being declared safe.

"VX only requires 10mg to be absorbed into the system to be lethal," Subramaniam said.

"The absorption level was so rapid that within a few minutes the guy had symptoms."

Nerve agents prevent the proper operation of an enzyme that acts as the body's "off switch" for glands and muscles.

Without that switch, glands and muscles are constantly being stimulated, eventually tire and become unable to sustain breathing.

"The muscle goes into a state of permanent contraction," Subramaniam said, adding the dose was "so high" in this case the heart and lungs would have been rapidly affected.

- Investigation ongoing -

Police had cordoned off parts of the airport after authorities pledged to check all locations the female suspects were known to have visited.

But the delay puzzled some travellers.

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."

Both women suspected of carrying out the attack insisted they thought they were taking part in a prank video, although Malaysian police have said they knew what they were doing.

One of the two female suspects in custody, 25-year-old Indonesian Siti Aisyah, reportedly told a senior diplomat Saturday she had been paid just 400 ringgit ($90) for her role, adding she believed she was handling a liquid like "baby oil".

The other woman, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, told Hanoi officials she had been tricked into killing Kim and thought she was taking part in a prank for a comedy video.

Indonesia's deputy ambassador to Malaysia Andreano Erwin, who was granted consular access to Siti Saturday, reportedly said she did not know Huong.

Police have said one of the women arrested after the attack fell ill in custody, adding she had been vomiting.

However, Erwin said Siti was physically healthy while Vietnamese officials said Huong was "in stable health".

Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah Mat told reporters an investigation was continuing at an apartment complex in Kuala Lumpur in connection with the four North Koreans who fled Malaysia on the day of the killing.

He added that samples from the address had been sent for chemical analysis.

One man wanted for questioning and believed still in Malaysia is senior North Korean embassy official Hyon Kwang Song, who enjoys diplomatic immunity.

The news Friday that lethal VX nerve agent was used in the attack sparked anger in Malaysia and brought condemnation from South Korea, which has pointed the finger at the North over Kim's death.

Seoul slammed the use of the toxin as a "blatant violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and other international norms".

No next-of-kin have yet come forward to formally identify the body or provide a DNA sample, but authorities have said relatives would be given more time to do so.

Investigation launched after Pakistani airline allowed seven extra people to stand on an over-crowded flight

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane taxies before take-off from Karachi International Airport in Karachi: GETTY

A Pakistani airline will be investigated after it emerged at least seven extra people were allowed on to a flight and forced to stand in the aisle.

An inquiry has been launched into Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-743, from Karachi to Medina, following claims it was over capacity when it made the three-hour trip. 

The Boeing 777 aircraft which can seat 409 including jump seats, those reserved for staff, allegedly took off with 419 people aboard.

The extra passengers are said to have stood in the aisle for the duration of the trip after flight attendants issued them handwritten boarding passes instead of the standard computer-generated ones.

The flight on 20 January breached air safety regulations and PIA spokesman Danyan Gilani said the matter was being investigated, newspaper Dawn reported.

Despite confirmation the matter was being looked into, Mr Gilani offered no explanation as to how the potentially life-threatening situation was allowed to occur.

The excess people meant they would not be able to access oxygen if needed as there would not be enough masks, and could hold up an evacuation in an emergency landing.

The paper claims the pilot, senior flight attendant and traffic staffers are allegedly trying to pin the blame on one another.

Hina Turab, senior flight attendant, claims she informed the pilot there were too many passengers on board, but she was told by the captain to adjust them as the aircraft was about to taxi.

But Capt Anwer Adil maintains his computer-generated sheet did not show excess passengers.

He said: “After takeoff when I came out of cockpit, Ms Turab informed me that there were some extra people who [had been] boarded by the traffic staff.

“I also noticed some people were those who were categorically refused jump seats by me at the check in counter before the flight.

“I had already taken off and the senior purse did not inform me about extra passengers before closing the aircraft door.

“Therefore after takeoff immediate landing back at Karachi was not possible as it required lot of fuel dumping which was not in the interest of the airline,” Dawn reported.

Protocol states that the flight should have returned to the airport so the excess passengers could disembark, and then resume the chartered flight.

He maintains it was Ms Turab’s responsibility to ensure there were no extra passengers aboard.

And he claimed the traffic staff should not have allowed anyone with a handwritten ticket on to the plane.

PIA, which is yet to take punitive action, said it was unable to confirm how long an inquiry would take.

The incident comes soon after all 48 people aboard a PIA flight died in December when it crashed near Abbottabad.