Durian has a bad reputation – and not only for it’s smell. At first we believed rumors of people dying from durian to be a myth, but sadly, yes, our beloved fruit is a bit of a murderer. While Rob and I romped around Asia sampling durian, the media reported on six individuals who met their end by durian. This is a tribute to all those people who lost their lives this year because of durian.
By the way, this places durian in the ranks of things that are more dangerous than sharks, especially since we can assume not all durian-deaths are reported. That sounds like an impressively lethal statistic, but apparently being swallowed by a shark is far less common than other, less plausible ways of dying like being crushed by a vending machine or asphyxiated by your hospital bed (true story!). Put in that perspective, dying by durian sounds almost dignified.
March 16: Bali. An elderly woman named Ni Wayan Pur, age 80, was killed when a huge durian tree fell on her house in Petak Kaja village, Bali, during a huge windstorm. This is unfortunately not all that uncommon. Although durians can grow to about 150 feet, they have remarkably shallow roots and are susceptible to high winds, not an uncommon occurrence in the typhoon plagued tropics. In September, a family of six was lucky not be at home when a durian tree destroyed their house.
See More: Durian Tree Lands on House, New Straits Times. Death and Injury Bali Windstorm. Jakarta Post.
July 13: Malaysia. In what was termed a freak accident, Lam Fook Chee, age 68, lost his balance while transporting a large basket of durian on his motorcycle near Raub. The durians fell on his head, killing him on the spot.
See More: Durian Kills Elderly Man. AsiaOne News.
August: Philippines. A middle aged man died in North Cotabato after returning home from the Kalivungan durian festival. Rob and I were in Davao City, Philippines, when our friend heard the news on the DXDM radio station. The man suffered a heart attack after consuming several durians in combination with coca-cola. Calls to the North Cotabato Provincial Hospital confirmed the report.
September 9: Malaysia. A 35-year-old Indonesian man, Stenya Priyantowas, was found having hung himself from a durian tree in Penang, an island renown for it’s high quality durians.
See More: Indonesian Found Hanged. New Straits Times
November 28: Malaysia. The saddest news I heard all year, a 1-month-old baby named Mohd Yusuf was killed when a durian fell on him while his mother was carrying him through the yard. She had stepped out of the house to collect the laundry at around 3 p.m. when the 2 kg (4lb) durian struck the baby on the head.
See More: Baby Boy Killed by Falling Durian in Jawi. The Star.
December 7: Sarawak. A 60-year-old businessman made headlines when he died after consuming too much durian. For the next week, the East Malaysian newspaper The Star ran stories warning citizens of the dangers of gluttony where durian is concerned. The man was said to suffer from diabetes and hypertension and may have died from a heart attack shortly after a large durian meal.
See More: Killer Durians. The Star.
***Opening Image borrowed from the computer game “Stranded in Singapore”
Zack Milder says
Im actually suprised there hasn’t been a single reported death of a durian fruit landing on someones head other than the poor 1-month old baby; these things can weigh up to 8 lbs and some of those trees are over 20 feet tall it only takes about 5 lbs of pressure to break the human jaw so I can imagine back then before the age of media there definitely have been some untimely deaths not listed here
Lindsay Admin says
Hi Zack,
I haven’t tracked durian deaths since that first year, but surprisingly it doesn’t seem that common for durians to fall from trees onto people. Motorbike accidents or truck accidents involving durian is more common.
ima kid says
The part where the guy hanged himself was not necessarily death by a durian smh first it was the tree second he killed himself not the tree XD
Roc n' Doc says
No need to reply. We had a grand laugh reading the plus and minus of the Dangerous Durian fruit and its awful aromatic aroma, savory sweetness, then the Deaths by dangling or dodging Durians. The prickly packing it presents its self in, should be a warning of the sins of sugar sensations.
Khadeeja says
Khadeeja khan says
THAT SOUNDS SCARY but there are types of fruit that are not deadly
John Ang says
Hi, Thank you for your very informative durian lovers website. Yes there are a lot of durian conmen in Singapore and Johore, I actually don’t know what I’m buying from the stalls, just see the labels and believe them. So now wih your website, I’m less prone to being conned. I just came across a Singapore website selling Musang king whisky. https://www.durianwhisky.com/ . I guess it is safe, for Musang King and whisky.
Nabil says
I’m from Malaysia. My uncle used to have a durian farm in Perak when i was a kid. We would wear crash helmets while waiting for the durians to drop.
Bobby says
dude, this article was killer man, i totally gotta try this stuff
[email protected] says
Nice pun 🙂
Anonymous says
Hi, I would like to read information during which time of the day the durian drops more probably. Here in Costa Rica my impression is that 90% of the fruits drop during night time and rainy&windy times. Certain info could help to save lifes…
fruitarianvagabond says
i enjoyed this information dear lindsay
FlordaGreenMan says
Check out this Durian link from Smithsonian
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2009/09/death-by-durian-fruit/
Lindsay Gasik says
Thanks for the link! I've seen several studies concerning durian and alcohol, including that one. I'll be writing about mixing durian and alcohol (including beer!) soon 🙂