SUNGAI PETANI: It was a heart wrenching moment as single-mother Rohani Ahmad, 49, arrived at the scene where the van her daughter was travelling in, was involved in a fatal crash with a Perodua Myvi in Tikam Batu here this morning.
Rohani slowly approached a stretcher where the lifeless body of her eldest child, Nur Izaty Syazwani Zamri, 20, was laid on and carefully lifted the plastic cover.
The mother of three was a picture of calm as she rubbed the head of her beloved daughter before kissing her cold forehead.
Rohani, from Sri Jenaris Flats here, did not shed any tears but anyone could see how shattered she was as she recited short prayers for her daughter.
She said Izaty had just started working with a factory in Prai two weeks ago and had just received an advance for her salary yesterday.
"She had just completed her Diploma studies recently and decided to take up a job with the factory to ease my burden in supporting our family.
"She was very excited when she landed the job as she was eager to help me provide for the family since my husband passed away four years ago, but now she is gone forever," Rohani said, holding back her tears when met at the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital's mortuary.
She said Izaty had three pieces of nuggets before she left the house for work at about 5am with her friend, Nur Aliayah Isa, 20, who also works at the same factory.
"However, at 6.30am, a neighbour came knocking on my door to inform that the van my daughter was travelling in was involved in an accident not far from our home.
"I rushed to the scene to check on her condition, only to find her lifeless body," she said.
Izaty was among the 13 Sony factory workers in the van, who were travelling to their workplace at Prai Industrial Zone in Penang, before the vehicle collided head-on with a Perodua Myvi travelling in the opposite direction.
The impact of the dawn collision caused the van to spin several times, throwing all 10 passengers out of the vehicle.
Izaty was killed on the spot due to severe head and neck injuries.
Aliayah, Suriantih Lapanca,24, and two other unidentified factory employees, as well as the van driver Rizal Zul Izzaham Mohd Riduan, 31, suffered serious injuries and are currently being treated at the Red Zone of Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital.
The driver of the Myvi, Mohamad Fakhurazzi Samsudin, 30, was also killed in the incident, while his male passenger survived with serious injuries.
Firefighters from Tikam Batu Fire and Rescue Department station had to be called in to extricate the van driver, the car driver and his passenger who were pinned to their seats in the mangled vehicles.
Fakhurazzi's wife Siti Nurhafiza Abdul Salim, 32, said her husband, who worked as a lorry driver left their home in Taman Ria Jaya about 1am Tuesday.
"At about 3.58am, I received a WhatsApp message from my husband stating that he and his friend were on their way home but I started to worry when by 7am, he has not yet arrived home.
"Then I received a call from my friend to inform me that my husband was involved in an accident in Tikam Batu," she said, declining to elaborate as she was overcome by emotions.
Meanwhile, one of the van passengers who escaped unhurt, Nurul Azani Ahmad, 23, claimed that she saw the Myvi was speeding when it suddenly swerved into the van's direction.
"I yelled at the top of my lungs, telling the van driver to avoid the car but it was too late. The car was travelling at a high speed towards our direction and crashed directly into the front of the van," she claimed.
Azani said she was thrown to the rear of the van while her colleagues were flung out of the vehicle.
"My colleagues were lying all over the road, screaming in pain but Izaty was already not responding when I approached her," she said when met at the scene this morning.
Kuala Muda deputy police chief Superintendent Shaifi Abdul Hamid said the fatal accident occurred at Km68 of the Alor Star-Butterworth trunk road.
He said the van was travelling from Sungai Petani towards Tikam Batu to send the factory workers to Prai while the Myvi was coming from the opposite direction.
Saifi said police are still investigating the case.
Translated from Harian Metro