JOHOR BARU: When Aizat Kasrin, 16, told his mother at 8pm last night that he was going out cycling with his friends, she objected.
Despite her protests, Aizat went ahead anyway.
That would prove to be the last time Jamiah Sulaiman would see her son alive. Hours later, the teenager died with seven others as a car ploughed into their group of cyclists along Johor Baru's Middle Ring Road, near the near the Mahmoodiah Muslim cemetery, at 3am.
"He still wanted to go out despite me insisting he shouldn't. He left and later at 3am, I got the news that he was involved in an accident," said Jamilah when met at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital mortuary.
Mohd Khairul Nizam Amir, 25, confirmed that his younger brother Mohd Azhar, was among the dead.
He was told that seven others had died and that only three bodies were identified so far.
"As a big brother, I had advised him before not to go out at night with his bicycle. As the eldest, dah penat nak selalu nasihat dia (I was tired of advising him all the time).
"He goes out when people go to sleep," said Khairul.
Eight teenagers died, two others are in critical condition and another six were injured in the incident.
Johor Baru Selatan (JBS) District Police Chief Assistant Commissioner Sulaiman Salleh said teenagers were aged between 13 to 17.
The teenagers were part of a group of 30 to 40 who came from areas such as Plentong and Skudai to ride their modified bicycles at the city centre.