Six killed in horror crash

[Jiang Wei]

Friday October 15, 2010

Six killed in horror crash

By SYLVIA LOOI
[email protected]

KAMPAR: Six people, including a newly-married couple, were killed when the car they were travelling in crashed into two trees and burst into flames on the Kuala Lumpur-Ipoh trunk road at Jeram near here. Kampar OCPD Supt Abd Aziz Salleh said that in the 2am incident, five of the victims were trapped in the car and died on the spot. “They were burnt beyond recognition,” he said at the Kampar Hospital yesterday. The five are Lim Ka Wai, 20, Yap Hing Long, 21, Soo Poi Wan, 18, Wong Chee Keong, 23, and 18-year-old Tang Wai Leong.

Fiery end: Kampar Fire and Rescue Department personnel trying to extricate the victims from the badly mangled car. The sixth victim, 23-year-old Foo Siew Ling died at 4.50am while undergoing treatment at the hospital. Due to the impact of the crash, Foo was flung out of the car. Foo and Wong registered their marriage recently.

The friends were travelling from Kampar to Ipoh when the accident happened about 16km from Kampar. Supt Abd Aziz said police believed that the car, registered under Lim’s name, was speeding before it crashed into the first tree. “The impact of the crash into the first tree forced the car to crash into the second tree,” he added, noting that the weather was fine during the time of the accident.

Nineteen firemen in three engines extricated the victims from the car. Officer-in-charge of the operation Zainuddin Mat Daud said the Kampar Fire and Rescue Department received the distress call at 1.54am and reached the scene at 2.03am. In the last six months, the Kampar district police had seen two horrific accidents. On July 22, five people died when the MPV they were travelling in crashed and plunged into a 30m ravine at KM301 on the north-bound lane of the North-South Expressway near Gua Tempurung.

 

[Jiang Wei]

Bereaved mother thought phone call was a joke


Friday October 15, 2010

Bereaved mother thought phone call was a joke

KAMPAR: It is every mother’s night_mare to receive a phone call that their child had passed away. Lorry driver Gan Ah Lan was awakened from her sleep when she got the call that her eldest daughter Soo Poi Wan had died in a fiery accident. Gan, 41, who got the call from Poi Wan’s friend at 6.40am, first thought it was a joke. “I only believed it after I re-confirmed the news with her other friends,” said the mother of three at the police station here yesterday.

Tang Wai Leong’s mother Yin Y.Ling said her second son was helping her at her chicken rice shop here. “He had just returned from Singapore four months ago. I can’t believe he is gone now,” she said, adding that she identified her son from his chain. The couple who registered their marriage recently, Wong Chee Keong and Foo Siew Ling, are expected to be laid to rest together, said Wong’s uncle who declined to be named.

“They were supposed to have their wedding ceremony after registering their marriage but sadly their plans have been dashed,” he said. Lim Ka Wai’s girlfriend, who wished to be known as Fan, said she last spoke to him over the phone at 12.30am. “He told me he wanted to stay overnight at my home in Ipoh. Although I advised him to postpone his plans as it was getting late, he insisted and I relented,” she said of Lim, who worked as a salesman.

Villager Shasari Ishak, 64, said there were many horrific accidents in the area including one which claimed the lives of a family last year. Recalling the incident, Shasari said he heard the victims shouting for help but could not do anything due to the intense heat from the flames. Shasari, a pensioner, hoped that the authorities concerned would put up more street lights along that stretch of road as the area was pitch dark at night.