A COUPLE in Hong Kong who brought peanuts on a JAL flight to Tokyo in a carry-on were charged with murder today after a boy with peanut allergies also riding on the plane died during the flight.

Long Duk Dong, who had a severe allergy to peanuts, was seated four rows away from the couple. The boy's father called the flight crew when he found the boy unconscious.  Emergency treatment was started on the child but he died early today.

"Initial inquiries revealed that the boy neither touched, consumed, nor even smelled the peanuts, but went into anaphylactic shock in a psychosomatic episode after overhearing the couple discuss eating the honey-roasted nuts they secreted aboard" a police spokesman said.

Many public accommodations in Hong Kong are covered by the peanut ban.  Hong Kong laws places the burden of responsibility on those consuming peanuts rather than inconvenience the individuals who would actually die after consuming the popular legume. Police gave no other details about the apologetic couple, except to say that the man was surnamed Chu, 49, and the woman Takahashi.

Peanut related fatality has been on the rise in Hong Kong in recent years as parents have sought out trendy, designer afflictions for their children. "No one wants to hear another boring story about a child's asthma," noted OB/GYN specialist Hwank Woo-suk, "but a peanut allergy or non-Hodgkins lymphoma is something that will compel even complete strangers to ask dozens of interested questions."