PUTRAJAYA, March 19 — Azizan Ayob, the 23-year-old police trainee who died of heatstroke on Wednesday might have been penalised by his instructors during training at the Segamat Police Training Centre (Pulapol), said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

“I think it was likely he was executing some form of physical punishment meted out by the instructors.”

He said yesterday guidelines would be drawn up for those who are engaged in outdoor activities and jobs that involve the police force.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said Azizan was doing a 10-lap run at Pulapol’s indoor track when he fainted and was then rushed to Segamat Hospital. Based on reports from the hospital, Azizan was found to have been exposed to high temperature for a prolonged period of time.

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“When someone is exposed to high temperature for a long period, blood can become concentrated and tissues in the body will end up being deprived of oxygen. In Azizan’s case, it triggered a metabolic acidosis where his kidneys stopped functioning.”

The trainee, on his second day of police training at Pulapol, was incubated and given assisted breathing before he succumbed to the heatstroke at 10.26pm in the hospital’s intensive care unit.