KEMAMAN: A sixth person has died following the single-vehicle accident at Km288.6 of the East Coast Expressway II (LPT2) near the Chukai Toll Plaza yesterday.
The victim has been identified as Mahani Ngah,42, wife of Hyundai Starex MPV driver, Ahmad Nasar Abdul Rahman, 52.
Mahani passed away at 8.15pm while receiving treatment at the Kemaman Hospital.
In the 6pm incident yesterday, the family of 10 was travelling to Dungun, Terengganu from Kuantan, Pahang, when Nasar lost control of the vehicle, which rammed a road divider before hitting an overhead bridge pillar.
The impact caused all occupants to be flung out of the vehicle.
Five of the victims were pronounced dead on the spot.
Acting Kemaman District police chief Deputy Superintendent Normansah Din said the dead were identified as Nasar’s and Mahani’s children, Quratulnisa, 11 and Ahmad Nijat, 9; and Nasar's brother, Ahmad Razi Abdul Rahman, 64, his wife Pauziyah Awang, 56, and their granddaughter, Sofea Adriana Shahrudin, 7.
Normansah said the seriously injured survivors, who are currently warded at the same hospital, are Nasar, and his remaining children, Quratul Ain, 14, Ahmad Syakir, 2 and Ahmad Mukriz, 3.
Nasar and his family are from Kampung Guar, Kodiang, Kedah, while his brother lived in Shah Alam, Selangor.
"It is learnt that the family was on its way to visit Razi’s grandson at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) in Gong Badak," added Normansah.
Meanwhile, in Shah Alam, relatives of the victims are in shock and struggling over news of the tragedy.
Nurul Shuhada Abdul Rahman, 38 – sister of deceased Razi and seriously-injured Nasal - said she heard about the incident through their sister, Siti Nurbaya, 48.
"Actually, I did not know Nasal and his family had gone to Pahang, because their earlier plan was to follow our brother, Dzaki, 58, to Johor.
“Prior to that, Nasal and Mahani were on vacation at Bukit Fraser, while Razi had gone to his in-laws’ house in Pahang to attend his grandson’s 'akikah' ceremony,” she said when met at Razi’s home in Section 17, here, today.
Like Razi, Nurul Shuhada lives in Shah Alam, while their three other siblings live in Kodiang and Jitra, Kedah.
Nurul Shuhada revealed that one of Razi’s sons, Shawwal, was supposed to have joined them, but had to cancel due to work commitments.
She added that all the bodies will be taken directly to Masjid Al-Amin, Section 17, for funeral prayers before burial at the Muslim cemetery in Section 21, here, today.
Additional reporting by C. PREMANANTHINI