by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:30 AM ET, Mon February 27, 2017
On Sunday, officials in Malaysia announced that Kuala Lumpur International Airport has been declared safe after the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was attacked with a chemical weapon in the facility last week.
According to Reuters.com, Kim Jong Nam was killed on Feb. 13 after he was attacked while standing at one of the Kuala Lumpur airport's terminals by two women who used rags to apply the VX nerve agent to his mouth and nose.
The United Nations classifies VX as a weapon of mass destruction.
Police forensic units, fire departments and the Atomic Energy Licensing Board all checked Kuala Lumpur International Airport to confirm it was cleared of the chemical agent. On Sunday at around 1 a.m. local time, the facility was cleared by officials.
"We confirm, number one, there is no hazardous material found in KLIA2, number two, KLIA2 is free from any form of contamination of hazardous material and thirdly, KLIA2 is declared a safe zone," police chief of Selangor state and lead investigator Abdul Samat Mat told Reuters.
The area in which the attack on Kim Jong Nam was attacked was closed during the investigation, but the rest of the terminal remained open. Tens of thousands of travelers passed through the area since the Feb. 13 assault.
Kim Jong Nam was standing inside the KLIA2 terminal when two women attacked him with the VX nerve agent. Surveillance video shows Kim Jong Nam seeking medical attention from airport employees, but he died while being transported to a local hospital.
In total, two women and one North Korean man directly contacted with the attack were arrested, and seven other North Koreans have been identified as suspects. Malaysia's health minister Subramaniam Sathasivam also confirmed autopsy findings were consistent with police reports showing Kim was killed by VX.
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