National Service officials are waiting for the post mortem report on the NS trainee who died on Wednesday before they can initiate a probe.

Director-general of National Service Training Department Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid told malaysiakini that the post-mortem was necessary in order to determine the death of NS trainee Iliameera Azlan (left) on Wednesday.

"So far we are still waiting for the Malacca Hospital's post mortem report. Until then, we can't do anything," he said.

Abdul Halim also assured that "everything is running as usual" at the Ayer Keroh NS camp.

According to the Star, Iliameera from Seremban was rushed to the emergency unit of the Malacca Hospital after other trainees found her struggling to breathe at 6.30am.

It was reported that the hospital did not disclose the cause of death despite a post mortem performed at noon yesterday.

Parents alarmed

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said the death of another NS trainee has raised alarm among parents and the public about the high fatalities in the NS training programme.

"Parliament was informed by Deputy Defence Minister Zainal Abidin Zin in December last year that in the past three years, there had been 17 cases of NS deaths - eight trainees and nine trainers. The total casualty will now be 18.

"Why is there such a high rate of fatalities in the National Service programme?" he asked.

Lim called on DPM Najib Tun Razak who is directly in charge of NS to commission a full public investigation into the high rate of fatalities in order to allay concerns of parents and the public about the safety of both the trainees and trainers in the programme.

Malacca Police Chief SAC (I) Ayub Yaakob has ruled out foul play after visiting the dormitory at the Ayer Keroh camp where Iliameera had stayed.

He said that investigation showed there were no heavy physical activities the night before and Iliameera had no medical ailment.

Iliameera is believed to have died on the way to hospital.