Man dies of heart attack not coronavirus on tourist bus - police

JOHOR BAHRU, Jan 26 -- Police say the death of a man on a tourist bus at the Sultan Abu Bakar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex at Tanjung Kupang, near Gelang Patah this morning was due to a heart attack and not the 2019 novel coronavirus.

Iskandar Puteri district police chief ACP Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said the man was not a Chinese citizen as viralled but instead a Singaporean.

He said he received a phone call from the immigration officer at the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex at about 7.05 am yesterday, informing him that a 78-year-old Singaporean was unconscious in a tourist bus which had stopped in front of the immigration counter for passport checks.

“Initial investigations found the man and his 68-year-old wife were travelling from Singapore to Genting Highlands.

"When the bus stopped at the passport checkpoint, the man suddenly complained of chest pain and an uneasy feeling to his wife,” he said in a statement today.

Dzulkhairi said the man was taken to Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) and doctors confirmed he died of a heart attack. He had a medical record of heart disease and treatments carried out in Singapore.

“Following the incident going viral on social sites, the public have been advised to be careful in spreading news before confirming its veracity.

“Police have investigated the individual who spread this fake news under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code," he said.

-- BERNAMA