In Indonesia, the simple act of buying cooking oil has turned deadly
- Two Indonesians died in the past week while queuing to buy cooking oil, as stocks run low in part due to Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine
- To tackle the shortage Indonesia is requiring exporters set aside 30 per cent of palm oil products for domestic use, up from the previous 20 per cent
On Saturday, a housewife Sandra, 41, fainted while queuing for over an hour in the hot sun waiting for her local minimarket to open. She died in an ambulance on the way to the local hospital. Police say she suffered from asthma.
On Tuesday, 49-year-old Rita Riyani died after being in intensive care for two days.
The Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Samarinda Police said Riyani may have been exhausted from queuing at three different supermarkets, where she was trying to buy the allotted two litres of cooking oil from each store. “The victim felt pain and cramps in her hand and called her husband. She then fell unconscious and was taken to hospital,” Andika Dharma Sena told local media following news of her death.
Indonesia has been gripped by a palm oil panic for several months as the price of CPO has risen by 40 per cent since the start of the year as a result of high global prices caused by a range of factors.
