KUALA KRAI: Five students of a tahfiz school were killed while nine others were injured when the van they were in skidded and rammed into a house at Kampung Telekong here this morning.
The students, all boys aged between 15 and 16, were from the Pusat Tahfiz Al-Hashimi Kampung Tualang.
The accident struck at 9.30am as they were heading to the Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium to attend a Ramadan Tadarus programme organised by the state government.
Kuala Krai Fire and Rescue Department senior operation commander Mohamad Hanif Che Khalid said eight firemen were rushed to the scene after receiving an emergency call at 9.42am.
He said five victims were inside the van when rescuers arrived at the scene at 10.20am.
"We took about 28 minutes to bring out the five victims from the wrecked van.
"The bodies of the five were sent to the Kuala Krai hospital for a post-mortem, examination," he said when met at the scene.
Hanif said nine victims who were injured were sent to the Kuala Krai and Machang hospitals, respectively.
The cause of the accident is still being investigated.