Malaysian hawker dies after falling face first into wok of boiling oil
A hawker in Malaysia died after fainting and falling face-first into a wok of boiling oil inside a food court in Kuala Kangsar town.
Liu Youcai, 58, suffered severe burns on his face, chest and back after falling into the hot oil on Wednesday, Malaysia’s Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily reported.
The locals rushed him to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries after 1.5 hours.
Liu was a well-known hawker in the area, famous for selling chicken chop and rice at £1.73 a plate. His reasonable food prices attracted patrons far and wide, other hawkers said.
He suffered from high blood pressure for years and was advised to take care of his health, according to his older brother Liu Youming.
"He worked six days a week and even on Mondays, when his stall was closed, he would come back to prepare the ingredients for his dishes,” an operator at the food court told the newspaper.
Liu's friends remembered him as a cheerful person and an animal lover with over 10 stray dogs at his home. He reportedly also cooked a large pot of rice with sweet potatoes daily to feed the strays near the food court.
A 74-year-old fried banana seller in Penang died in 2022 after similarly fainting and falling into a wok full of boiling oil. The woman, identified as Zhong Bixuan, suffered severe burn injuries and later succumbed at the hospital.
