A post-mortem on a Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) student who died during a reserve officers’ training unit exercise found no injuries suggesting foul play, police confirmed today.
Kota Tinggi police chief Yusof Othman said preliminary findings from the autopsy conducted at Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Bahru showed no external injuries or trauma.
However, the exact cause of death remains unknown pending laboratory results, he said in a statement.
Yusof said the student, Haris Samsudin, collapsed during a training session at the army combat training centre in Ulu Tiram, Johor, at about 2.30pm on July 28.
Haris reportedly showed signs of disorientation before suddenly losing control and collapsing.
He was taken to Kota Tinggi Hospital but was pronounced dead at the emergency department.
The case has been classified as sudden death, and police have begun recording statements from witnesses and medical personnel.
At a press conference in Ipoh earlier today, Haris’s mother, Ummu Haiman Bee Daulatgun, alleged possible foul play after viewing his body.
In a Malaysiakini report, Ummu claimed Haris had bruises, bleeding from the nose and eyes, and wounds resembling gunshot injuries.
She said the injuries appeared inconsistent with the explanations provided to her.
“One person said he had a seizure during a shooting practice, while another told a family member he died in a fight,” she said.
Ummu also claimed that she was initially stopped from taking photos and was only allowed to view part of her son’s body, but went ahead to document the injuries anyway.
