By NNN-Bernama
Kuala Lumpur : Two men died after they collapsed at polling centres in Alor Setar and Kepala Batas, respectively, today.
In the first incident in Alor Star, Farmer Adzemi Ismail had just slipped his ballot paper into the transparent ballot box and was leaving the polling room when he collapsed, believed to be from a heart attack.
The loud thud from his fall caused a stir among voters who were queuing to cast their votes.
An Election Commission staff, who declined to be named, said that he rushed out to check what had happened.
“I saw a man lying there, and when I could not detect a pulse, I immediately contacted a doctor from a nearby clinic,” he said.
The incident occurred at about 8.20am.
Kota Star Deputy CID Chief DSP Fiesal Libertus Abdullah, when contacted, classified the case as sudden death.
According to Adzemi’s brother-in-law, Rosli Ismail, 48, Adzemi, who underwent a heart surgery 20 years ago, had not been feeling well since the past few days and had been to the doctor.
“He looked fine this morning when he left on his motorbike to cast his vote,” he added. Adzemi, 48, left a wife and two children, aged 15 and nine. Meanwhile, Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) Mahdzir Khalid, when met after casting his vote at Sekolah Kebangsaan Naka here, conveyed his condolence to Adzemi’s family.
In Kepala Batas, Telekom Malaysia employee Saidon Md Isa, 48, was with other voters queuing to cast his vote at Sekolah Agama Rakyat Permatang Rambai, when he collapsed at about 10.40am.
A spokesman from the Kepala Batas Hospital said that an ambulance was despatched to the polling centre at about 11am but he was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Permatang Kuang Umno branch leader, Shukri Ramli, who is a friend of the deceased, said that Saidon arrived at the polling centre with a few other village mates.