KUALA LUMPUR: It was difficult to conclusively determine the cause of death of several Orang Asli of the Batek tribe because their bodies were already highly decomposed when they were brought in for autopsy.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said this would have not been the case had the authorities been alerted of their deaths earlier, and if their remains were recovered immediately after.
“Certainly, it was harder (to conduct our post mortem) as there was not much human tissues left, apart from the bone. It made it more difficult to confirm the cause of death,“ he told reporters at Parliament today.
“Things would have been different if we had known earlier,“ he added.
Fifteen Orang Asli from Gua Musang died in May, raising suspicions that they had been killed by a “mysterious” illness. The media then reported that the deaths were caused by pollution from mining activities nearby.
A post mortem later confirmed that three of them had succumbed to complications caused by measles.
On Saturday, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said a post mortem on the other 12 failed to determine the cause of death.
Lee said the authorities were only informed in June that many Orang Asli had died and their bodies left in the jungle.
He said the remote location of their settlement made it difficult to get information early.
“We also have to understand the circumstances, In the community, it was normal to send the sick far away from home,“ Lee said.
He said the authorities sent a team into the jungle as soon as they received the information and managed to recover 12 bodies. He refuted claims that the ministry had delayed the post mortem.
