PETALING JAYA, May 9 — A senior citizen who was waiting in line at a polling station here to cast his vote collapsed and passed away.
Petaling Jaya police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Zani Che Din said the deceased identified as Loh Voon Chor, aged 78, was at the SMK (P) Taman Petaling polling station when he collapsed around 9.30am.
“The voter was with his wife and son.
“A police officer on duty at the centre immediately alerted 999 for assistance and medical officers from University Malaya Medical Centre arrived ten minutes later,” he said.
Mohd Zani said Loh was pronounced dead by the medical officers at the scene.
“According to the family members the deceased was a known heart and lung patient who was also diabetic,” he said.
An eyewitness, M. Rajeshwary, said initially people assumed the elderly man who was using a walking stick, had slipped and fell while waiting in line.
“Several seconds later the officer on duty began to cordone off the area and ask people to move aside to allow medical staff to perform resuscitation on him,” she said adding that most voters waiting in queue was shocked by the incident.
However she said shortly after the man was pronounced dead by paramedics, there was no sense of urgency by the authorities to remove the man from the pathway where most of the voters have to pass through.
“They just went and search for a cloth to cover the body and the body was left there for a while for about 15 minutes around 10am,” she said.
