A heartbreaking story circulated on social media yesterday (08) claiming that a five-year-old child in the Middeniya area had died because a rambutan seed got stuck in the throat. It was reported that the child had choked on the seed while eating rambutan at home. The incident was also broadcast through mainstream media channels.

However,By the 9th of July, posts shared on social media stated that the child had not died from a rambutan seed obstruction, but instead from a sudden heart attack.
Due to these contradictory reports, FactSeeker was determined to look into the matter.

Accordingly, we inquired about the incident from the Middeniya Police Station, which is conducting the investigation into the child’s death. The Middeniya Police stated that the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) had provided an open verdict indicating that the death occurred due to an unidentified illness resembling a heart attack. They also revealed that the hospital had informed the police that the child had died after being admitted for treatment. Furthermore, the hospital did not mention that the death was due to a rambutan seed obstruction.
Additionally, the Middeniya Police further stated that when the child was brought to the hospital, the guardians had informed the doctors that the child had been eating rambutan at the time of falling ill.

Some posts also claimed that the child’s father had died in the same manner, but when we checked with the police station, they stated that the father had actually passed away three years ago.

Based on this information, FactSeeker confirms that the five-year-old child who died in the Middeniya area did not die due to a rambutan seed getting stuck, but rather due to an unidentified illness.