Kemaman district police chief Hanyan Ramlan said the boy, aged 13, came across the biscuits while passing a farm on his way to a river to catch fish at about 2pm, Bernama reported.

He said the boy ate the biscuits, which were in a plastic bag, and later collapsed. “The boy was found by his friend’s father lying unconscious on the ground,” Hanyan said.

He was taken to a nearby clinic before being sent to Kemaman Hospital. He is in stable condition and receiving treatment.

The boy is the third child to have fallen victim to laced snacks. Two young brothers, Akil Syauqi Nur Sufyan and Luth Syauqi, aged three and two respectively, died after eating keropok (cracker snacks) which were believed to be laced with rat poison.

The snacks were hung on a wire fence at a garden and were intended to ward off wild monkeys.