Bride-to-be dies in crash near Slim River

SLIM RIVER: Pang Lee Si was supposed to be married in 10 days' time.
However, the 35-year-old from Serdang, Kedah, and four others were killed when their journey to a musical performance at a temple ended in tragedy.

The MPV they were travelling in from Parit Buntar to Muar collided with a stationary 12-tonne lorry at KM372 of the North-South Expressway at about 7am yesterday.

The deceased (from left) Pang, Chin, Poh and Eng.

“The MPV crashed into a rice-laden lorry, which was parked on the emergency lane,” said Deputy Tanjung Malim OCPD Deputy Supt R. Supramaniam

“The lorry (which was heading towards Sungai Buloh, Selangor, from Jitra, Kedah) had a flat tyre and was forced to stop by the roadside.

“The MPV rammed into the lorry before the driver could place emergency cones to warn incoming vehicles,” he added.

DSP Supramaniam said the five died on the spot while six others were rushed to the Slim River Hospital.

Retiree Chong Soon Choy, 61, who drove the MPV earlier, said he felt tired and stopped at the Sungai Perak rest area to switch drivers.

Heng Choon Tee, 33, from Butterworth, then took over.

“When nearing the Slim River exit, a vehicle that was trailing behind flashed its headlights and we swerved to the left to let it pass,” said Chong, who broke his arm and ribs in the accident.

“The next thing I knew, I was in the car wreck and could hear people screaming and crying in pain,” he said.

Besides Heng, the others who died are Poh Hock Huat, 60, from Nibong Tebal, Daphne Eng Yuik Yee, 14, from Tanjung Piandang and Juvien Chin Yu Xuan, 12, from Nibong Tebal.
Besides Chong, who is from Bukit Mertajam, the others who were injured are Ho Seok Yi, 18, from Bagan Serai, Bu Wei Hong, in his 50s, Lim Tau Hong, five, Goey Wen Ni, 16, from Nibong Tebal, and Heng Ah Lee, 60, from Bagan Selatan.

At the hospital, Pang's mother was inconsolable, crying and saying that her daughter was to get married soon.

Heng's brother, who did not want to be named, said his sister was the emcee for the troupe.

“My sister and the group were supposed to perform some songs and dances at the temple event.

“We had just met about a week ago during a wedding function,” said the videographer.

“It's hard to imagine that she's gone.”

Three on Deepavali shopping trip killed in road accident

JITRA: A woman and her granddaughter were among three people killed in a road accident at the Jalan Tunjang-Jitra intersection here Saturday while returning from Deepavali shopping in Padang Besar, Perlis, police said Sunday.

Kubang Pasu Police chief Supt Ibrahim Mohd Yusoff said the dead were M. Kannigah, 61, her granddaughter J. Thivyaamsheni, 13, and another woman, G. Rathika, 29.

Rathika's husband D. Sivaprakash, 33, who was driving a Proton Iswara car, and their unidentified four-year-old daughter were badly injured and had been sent to the Jitra Hospital, he said.

Also injured was Thivyaamsheni's unidentified 16-year-old elder brother, who has also been admitted to the same hospital, he added.

Kannigah, who was from Taman Dato Osman Aroff, and Rathika died on the spot while Thivyaamsheni, who was from Bukit Mertajam, Penang, and a student of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent there, died at the hospital.

Ibrahim said the accident happened at 5.40pm when the car driven by Sivaprakash, heading from Tunjang to Jitra, brushed against a Proton Exora coming from the opposite direction, rammed the faulty traffic lights at the Taman Suria intersection and overturned.

The driver and passengers in the Exora were not seriously injured, he said.
Ibrahim said the traffic lights at the intersection had not been working since Saturday morning and two minor accidents had occurred earlier in the day.

Kubang Pasu MP Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum, who is deputy agriculture and agro-based industry minister, visited family members of the dead at the Jitra Hospital.
Johari said he had asked the local authority to repair the traffic lights immediately. - Bernama

More than 10,000 motorists pay up AES summonses

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 15, 2012): More than 10,000 motorists have settled their Automated Enforcement System (AES) summonses out of the 274,000 issued since the system was implemented on Sept 23.
Road Transport Department deputy director-general Datuk Ismail Ahmad said the payment rate was still low when compared to the number of summonses issued.
"Motorists must understand that the AES is not implemented to burden them, but it is instead a method to reduce road accidents," he told reporters after launching a Road Safety Awareness Campaign organised by the Consumers Protection and Welfare Board (LPKPM) at the Sungai Besi Toll Plaza here.
Ismail said various challenges were faced by enforcement agencies in reducing road accidents, especially fatalities, such as the increase in the number of vehicles and drivers each year.
He said the country experienced an increase of about 1.1 million vehicles a year and an additional 400,000 drivers, which posed a challenge to the department and other enforcement agencies in reducing fatalities in Malaysia.
"Actually, the increase in the number of vehicles and drivers is not a problem. What's important is that motorists have self-awareness and take the initiative to reduce road fatalities," he said.
He said the government had also set a target to reduce the Key Performance Index (KPI) for fatalities from 3.8 people out of 10,000 motorists to 2.0 by 2020.
Ismail lauded LPKPM's initiative in reducing road fatalities through such safety campaigns. "These campaigns are initiatives that we encourage because the community and enforcement agencies need to work together to handle this matter, instead of leaving it all to the enforcement only," he added. – Bernama

Car ploughs into 2 Indian nationals

RAWANG -- Two Indian nationals, contracted to clean garbage in the emergency lane, were killed when a car skidded and ploughed into them at the North-South Expressway near the Sungai Buluh Exit today.

Solid waste company staff Solai Alagan, 28, and Permal Soten Anbelan, 30,who were sandwiched to the rear of the dump truck by the car, died on the spot in the 3pm crash. 
 Their three colleagues managed to escape in the nick of time. 
 The deceased, and the driver of the car, believed to be a doctor, were sent to the Sungai Buloh Hospital. 
 The condition of the doctor, who sustained head and body injuries, was reported to be stable. 
 Gombak police chief ACP Abdul Rahim Abdullah said Alagan and Anbelan werecleaning piles of garbage when the car, which was driven in the middle lane,skidded and rammed into them. 
 He said firemen spent about 10 minutes to extricate the bodies which were trapped between the two damaged vehicles.  -- Bernama

 

Family and two others plunge down collapsed road

KAJANG: Five people narrowly escaped death while travelling on a road which collapsed near the Semenyih dam after several days of rain.

A car driven by a couple and their daughter and a van driven by a man plunged 30m into a river bank.
A security guard who went to investigate on his motorcycle hit into the rubble of the collapsed road and also slid down the river bank.

The Fire and Rescue Department was notified at around 7.43pm on Wednesday, minutes after it occurred, said operations officer Seman Awang.

Fifteen men in two engines were dispatched to the scene from Kajang and Bangi, he said at the scene.
“By the time we arrived at 8.24pm, the five had got to safety,” he added

Seman said the road would be closed until its “structural integrity” had been thoroughly examined.
The guard, Mohd Khair Abdullah Zabar, was working at the Semenyih dam here on Wednesday night when he noticed two sets of headlights shining down towards the river at about 8pm.
“I also heard a loud noise that sounded like a tree falling.

“That's when I got on my motorcycle to investigate,” said the 20-year-old.

“There were no street lights as the electricity had been cut. In my hurry to find out what had happened, I did not realise that a part of the road had collapsed.”

Mohd Khair said his motorcycle hit into some rubble and slid down the bank, where the overturned car was. Further away was the van.

He helped Sukri Serajudin, 32, and his wife Noor Shazwani Mohd Adnan, 24, pull their two-year-old child Noraina Qaisara from the backseat.

Together with the man in the van, they climbed up to the road, where Mohd Khair stopped a passing car and asked the driver to inform the police.

”The others were taken in an ambulance to the Kajang Hospital. My sister took me to the nearest clinic. I was only slightly injured,” Mohd Khairi said.

Kajang police station's Insp Zamri Musa, who was at the scene, said that about 500m of the road had been cordoned off within two hours of the landslide.

He expects the road to remain closed for at least six months for repairs.

Five killed in MPV-lorry crash near Slim River

IPOH: Five people died and six were injured when an MPV rammed into the rear of a lorry at KM372 of the North-South Expressway, near Slim River, early Tuesday.

Tanjung Malim deputy OCPD Deputy Supt R. Supramaniam said the MPV, which was carrying the 11 people, was heading towards Muar from Penang when the accident occured 7am.
"The MPV crashed into the rice-laden lorry, which was parked on the emergency lane," he told journalists here.

The lorry had stopped by the road side because of a flat tyre, he added.
"The MPV rammed into the lorry before the driver could put up emergency cones to warn oncoming vehicles," he said.

The five died on the spot while six others were rushed to the Slim River Hospital.
The deceased have been identified as Poh Hock Huat, 60, from Nibong Tebal; Daphne Eng Yuik Yee, 14, from Tanjung Piandang; Juvien Chin Yu Xuan, 12, from Nibong Tebal and Pang Lee Si, 35, from Kedah.

The fifth victim has yet to be identified.

The six injured have been identified as Chong Soon Choy, 61, from Bukit Mertajam; Ho Seok Yi, 18, from Bagan Serai; Bu Wei Hong, 50s; Lim Tau Hong, five; Goey Wen Ni, 16 from Nibong Tebal (discharged) and Heng Ah Lee, 60, from Bagan Selatan

Bus crash near Gopeng kills driver, injures 10 passengers

IPOH: An express bus driver was killed and 10 passengers injured after the vehicle crashed into the back of a trailer along the North-South Expressway near Gopeng at about 12.40am Tuesday.

Kampar OCPD Supt Ng Kong Soon said the driver, Abdul Rahim Musa, 57, died on the spot while 10 others who sustained light injuries were sent to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital.

“The bus was carrying 13 passengers and heading to Ipoh from Kuala Lumpur before crashing into the back of the trailer while going uphill,” he said, adding that the remaining three passengers did not sustain any injuries.