A foreign man died shortly after receiving an injection during an extra-skin removal operation at a beauty salon in Ho Chi Minh City, police confirmed on Thursday.

The victim was identified as American national Edward Hartley, 53, the municipal health department said in a report to the Ministry of Health.

Hartley had loose skin near his waist and back after losing some 18kg, so he visited the Viet Thanh beauty salon on Su Van Hanh Street in District 10 on Wednesday morning for excess skin removal.

Initial reports said the operation was to remove his belly fat.

The clinic is registered under the name of Dr. Nguyen Viet Thanh.

Thanh said in a testimony that he had performed a check-up for the U.S. man in the morning and asked him to come back later for the operation.

Hartley returned at 4:00 pm the same day. However, only around 15 minutes after receiving anesthesia, the American patient started to show signs of vasodepressor, or the reduction of tone in blood vessels, resulting in lower blood pressure.

Doctor Thanh immediately carried out emergency procedures to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in the man, while calling for assistance from the nearby Trung Vuong Hospital.

Even though Trung Vuong doctors showed up 20 minutes later, all attempts to save Hartley were in vain.

The beauty salon notified authorities after the patient was pronounced dead.

An inspection by the city’s health department on Thursday morning found that the Viet Thanh clinic was not licensed to perform excess skin removal.

The inspectors therefore requested that the beauty salon temporarily shut down, pending a conclusion on the death of Hartley.

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