The patient, aged 65, was found unconscious in his bed in a local Hospital, a staff nurse managed to expel three pieces of watermelon, about 3cm long and 1.5cm thick, from his throat on Jan 26, 2018.

An autopsy later showed there were also lumps of rice almost blocking his main bronchi, the passageway into the lungs.

A doctor later found more watermelon and grains of rice between his vocal cords. Three more pieces were removed with a pair of forceps.

He was admitted on Nov 28, 2016, for a head injury from a fall and placed on an "easy chew" diet as he had no teeth.

His daughter told that her father had a habit of eating very quickly and would swallow his food with minimal chewing.

On Jan 26 last year, he was served a normal meal with watermelon for dinner. He was found unresponsive at around 6pm. Despite the efforts to save him, he died about 1½ hours later.

He died due to an acute airway obstruction by a foreign body.