12 maut tragedi lebuh raya

SEREMBAN 10 Okt. – Seramai 12 orang maut, manakala lebih 40 lagi cedera termasuk parah apabila dua buah bas, dua buah kereta dan sebuah van terbabit dalam kemalangan di Kilometer 223, Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan, berdekatan Plaza Tol Simpang Ampat dekat Rembau, petang ini.

Nahas berlaku apabila sebuah bas ekspres Delima yang dipercayai dipandu laju dari arah selatan gagal dikawal lalu terbabas dan melanggar pembahagi lebuh raya sebelum melambung ke laluan bertentangan.

Bas ekspres itu yang dalam perjalanan dari Melaka ke Kuala Lumpur kemudian melanggar sebuah van dan kereta sebelum menghempap dua buah kereta lain dalam kejadian pada 6.50 petang itu.

Pada masa yang sama, sebuah bas Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM) yang dinaiki ahli Persatuan Bekas Tentera Malaysia (PBTM) turut gagal mengelak dan melanggar bas ekspres itu.

Tragedi Oktober itu mengakibatkan puluhan ribu kenderaan terperangkap dalam kesesakan lalu lintas sehingga lewat malam ini apabila pihak berkuasa terpaksa menutup laluan di kedua-dua arah untuk kerja-kerja menyelamat.

Sehingga pukul 11 malam ini, pasukan penyelamat sedang berusaha mengeluarkan mayat mangsa termasuk penumpang bas dan kenderaan yang dihempap oleh bas itu.

Difahamkan, mangsa yang maut adalah pemandu bas dan penumpang serta penumpang dua buah kereta yang terhimpit dihempap bas tersebut.

Pengarah Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar (HTJ) di sini, Dr. Jaafar Che Mat pada sidang akhbar lewat malam ini memaklumkan, pihaknya menerima 24 orang mangsa yang cedera terdiri daripada lapan lelaki dan 16 wanita, kesemuanya dewasa.

Katanya, seorang daripada mangsa telah dihantar ke Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) setelah dilaporkan dalam keadaan kritikal.

Menurut beliau, kesemua mayat dihantar ke Hospital Melaka untuk bedah siasat, manakala mereka yang cedera menerima rawatan di HTJ.

Antara yang dilihat menerima rawatan termasuk seorang pelancong warga Jepun.

Berikutan kemalangan itu, pihak polis telah menutup laluan masuk ke lebuh raya arah selatan di Plaza Tol Pedas, Linggi di Rembau.

Kebanyakan kenderaan yang memasuki lebuh raya dinasihatkan oleh Plus Expressways Berhad (PLUS) untuk menggunakan laluan alternatif.

Sementara itu, Pegawai Turus Trafik negeri, Asisten Supritendan Abd. Halil Hamzah ketika dihubungi malam ini mengesahkan kejadian tersebut dan menurutnya, ketika ini, identiti mangsa yang cedera dan meninggal dunia masih belum diketahui.

Operasi menyelamat masih dijalankan oleh pasukan bomba dan penyelamat, polis, Jabatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (JPAM) serta bantuan pihak paramedik dari hospital yang berdekatan.

Dalam pada itu, salah seorang penumpang bas Ekspres Delima yang terselamat, Nur Najlaa Aqilah Mohd. Ghazali, 19, berkata, dia tiba-tiba terasa bas yang dinaikinya berpusing lalu menghempap sebuah kereta selepas melambung ke laluan bertentangan.

“Ketika kejadian, saya sedang tidur. Saya tersedar apabila bas itu berpusing dan menghempap kenderaan di laluan bertentangan. Tidak lama kemudian, bas yang kami naiki dirempuh beberapa kenderaan lain termasuk sebuah bas (membawa ahli PBTM),” kata pelajar Universiti Malaya itu yang kini dirawat di HTJ setelah mengalami kecederaan di tangan dan muka.

Difahamkan, bas JKM membawa peserta yang menghadiri Perhimpunan Raksasa PBTM, turut dinaiki Exco Kerajaan Melaka, Datuk Karim Sulaiman. Bagaimanapun, kesemua penumpang bas itu dilaporkan selamat.

Road Accident Kills 12, Injures over 45 in Malaysia

A road accident that happened on the North-South Expressway connecting the northern and southern parts of Peninsula Malaysia killed at least 12 people, while injuring more than 45 others on Sunday.

According to several members of the rescue team, the tragedy took place at about 6:45 p.m. local time, causing massive jam on the road.

The actual scene was located near the Rembau district in Negeri Sembilan, a state in the central part of west coast of Peninsula Malaysia.

The Malaysian police, confirming the accident, told reporters here that an express bus, a bus belonging to the Malaysian Welfare Department, three cars and a van were involved in the accident.

The police also said that the identities of the victims were not immediately known.

When met at the hospital, some rescue team members told reporters that the bumper-to-bumper congestion had obstructed the way of several ambulances rushing to the scene.

They said that by looking at the vehicles' conditions involved in the accident, it was believed that the bus ferrying tens of passengers had lost control on the highway and rammed into the divider.

The strong collision forced the bus into the opposite lanes, causing it to plough with four other vehicles.

However, the police were investigating if the accident was due to the reckless driving by the bus driver, or the technical and engine faults of the vehicle, said the rescuers.

A spokesman from the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department said that the bus collided with a car and overturned after hitting another bus.

The driver of the car trapped under the bus that turned turtle died on the spot, while another van, trying to avoid the express bus, crashed into a car, killing also the van driver immediately.

ACCIDENTS WITH MALAYSIAKINI: More deaths on Singapore roads

An all out effort to combat dengue threat, was not in the same light as campaigning safe driving/cycling. But both somehow are threats to society with untimely deaths.



More accidents and deaths
on Singapore roads


Mon, Feb 02, 2009
By Joyce Fang
asiaone motoring

THERE were more traffic accidents and more people dying on the roads last year, including those who died as a result of drink-driving.

One reason could be the increased population here and the number of vehicles on the road, which has risen by over 50,000 between 2007 and last year.

Figures from the Traffic Police (TP) showed that traffic fatalities have increased from 214 to 222 between 2007 and last year.

Still, it was a slight 1.5-percent improvement, with the fatality rate dropping from 4.66 per 100,000 population in 2007, to 4.59 last year.

What is alarming, however, is that motorcyclists and their pillion riders remain the most vulnerable road users, and have been so for over 10 years running.

Almost one in two of those who died were bikers or pillion riders aged 30 and below.

To address this issue, the TP will change the curriculum for those studying to get a motorcycle licence by June this year to include lessons on defensive riding.

Three theoretical lessons on defensive riding will be implemented, where instructors will teach defensive riding techniques.

These include tips such as things that motorcyclists should look out for when approaching junctions, pedestrian crossings or carparks.

'Specifics are still being worked out,' said a police spokesman.

TP commander Christopher Ng said: 'What is lacking is the mindset of motorcyclists... We hope to enhance the defensive-driving mindset of motorcyclists through these theoretical lessons.'

Also, new drivers and riders will soon have to view a new road-safety video before they collect their driving licences.

The video, aimed to instil responsible road behaviour in drivers and riders, will include clips of actual accidents, common causes of accidents and the sharing of experiences by victims and offenders.

Another worrying statistic showed that the elderly accounted for nearly half (45.2 per cent) of pedestrians who were killed.

Nearly four in five elderly deaths were due to jaywalking, where they failed to use pedestrian crossings or overhead bridges.

To address the problem, a new road-safety video, which has safety tips incorporated in songs, will be distributed to senior citizens' homes, shelters, community centres and Residents' Committee centres.

Commander Ng said: 'Their reaction is a bit slower, so educational efforts are needed to inform them to use traffic lights and wear something bright to let motorists know they are there.




beritadarigunung

Gua Musang crash which killed 10: a woman wrongly identified.

PASIR MAS: One of the 10 people identified as having been killed in the fatal accident in Gua Musang on Friday is alive and well.

Ho Kin Hum, 86, was actually at her home in Kampung Chetok Hilir in Pasir Mas at the time of the accident.

The confusion arose as one of the victims, her daughter Lee Bee Seng, 51, was holding Ho's identity card.

The person mistakenly identified as Ho was believed to be her niece, Lee Chee Sim @ Lee Kim Kuan, 62. Chee Sim's identity card is still missing.

This was confirmed by relatives of the family of five travelling in a Perodua Kenari, all of whom were killed.
The other three killed were Bee Seng's husband, Lau Sin Eik, 60, their youngest daughter, Shareen Lau Ming Min, 15, and Bee Seng's sister-in-law and Chee Sim's mother, Lau Chai Soon, 79.

The family was returning home after going to Kuala Lumpur for a housewarming ceremony at the new condominium of Bee Seng's eldest daughter.

Gua Musang police chief Superintendent Ahmad Termizi Abdul Haq said the 29-year-old sports utility vehicle driver was being investigated for careless driving leading to the fatalities and was released on police bail yesterday.

He also voiced his concern about the usage of rear seat belts, saying many would have survived the crash if they had worn theirs.

"We believe that they did not wear the rear seat belts, resulting in some of the victims being thrown out of the vehicles.

"We also advise other drivers to exercise caution while travelling along Jalan Gua Musang-Kuala Krai, especially during the rainy season."

The bodies were taken to Chai Soon's home in Kampung Chetok Hilir yesterday and they are expected to be buried at the Buddhist cemetery in Jelatok, Tanah Merah today.

Transporting the victims' bodies proved a problem as the Gua Musang Hospital only has two vans.

With one van carrying the five victims, including three children from a Perodua Kancil also involved in the accident, to Bachok, the families of the five victims from the Kenari borrowed a Toyota Hilux to help transport them back to Chai Soon's home.

The accident, involving 15 people in two cars and the SUV, occurred in Bukit Sejuk at Km22, Jalan Gua Musang-Jalan Kuala Krai.

The dead in the Kancil included a mother and her three young children. Another daughter, 18-month-old Noraihah Nabila Abdul Rahim, was critically injured and transferred to Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital in Kota Baru.

The four people in the SUV, a Nissan Murano, survived but one was severely injured and warded at the Gua Musang Hospital.

The five victims from the Kancil -- Hasliza Md Zain, 32, from Kampung Kundur Kuala Betis in Gua Musang, her 29-year-old sister Maziatul Shan Lia, Hasliza's children Mohd Rahizal Yusua Abdul Rahim, 12, Shaha Abdul Rahim, 6, and 6-month old Norashidah Abdul Rahim -- were buried in Kampung Beris Gajah Mati in Tawang, Bachok, yesterday.

Hasliza and Maziatul's father, Md Zain Dollah, 58, was thankful that his third child, Siti Nor Suriya, 18, did not accompany Hasliza on the trip.

source: Woman wrongly identified
New Straits Times, Malaysia

other related stories

• Five crash victims buried in one grave
• Malaysia Star, Malaysia
• Seat Belts Can Reduce Fatalities
• Bernama, Malaysia
• Girl Who Survived Accident In Stable Condition
• Bernama, Malaysia
• 10 killed in Gua Musang crash
• New Straits Times, Malaysia

kemalangan libat 3 kereta: 10 mati

GUA MUSANG: Ten people were killed and a baby seriously injured in a three-car accident involving a Perodua Kenari, a Perodua Kancil and a Nissan Murano four-wheel drive.

Those killed were all five people in the Kenari and five of six people in the Kancil. The four people in the four-wheel drive escaped with minor injuries.

In the pile-up at the 21st kilometre of Jalan Kuala Krai-Gua Musang at 10.30am yesterday, the Kancil heading for Kuala Krai from here, is believed to have collided head-on with the Murano before the Kenari crashed into the Kancil.

The deaths came as a stark reminder of the country’s newest traffic law, the rear seat belt ruling that came into force two days ago. None of the rear passengers in either car were buckled up, police said.

Gua Musang Fire and Rescue Department chief Rosli Che Sulaiman confirmed that only the drivers of the Kancil and Kenari had their seat belts on.

sole survivor: Abdul Rahim Jaafar, 35, (centre) accompanying his daughter Noraihah Nabila to Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital after the accident Friday. — Bernama

He said rescue personnel had to cut the seat belts of the drivers to remove their bodies.

The deceased were identified as Haliza Md Zain, 33, the driver of the Kancil, her sister Maziatul Shamila, and three of her children Mohd Rahiza Yuswa Abdul Rahim, 12, Norashidah, 10, and six-year-old Shaha.

Haliza’s fourth child, one-year-old Noraihah Nabila was seriously injured and has been admitted to Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital.

The five victims in the Kenari were driver Lau Sin Eik, 59, Lee Bee Seng, 50, Lau Chai Soon, 78, Ho Kin Hum, 86, and 18-year-old Shareen Lau Ming Min.

Phua Thein Noo, 28, drove the Murano while his passengers were Tan Chee Hua, 44, Wong Kee Hooi, 20, and 33-year-old Lau Soon Lee.

Gua Musang OCPD Supt Ahmad Termizi Abd Haq said police had detained Phua for questioning.

“Preliminary police investigations showed that the Kancil driver may have wanted to overtake another vehicle when the collision happened.

“Almost all the victims died on the spot except for the six-year-old child who died on the way to Gua Musang Hospital,” he told reporters.

Supt Ahmad Termizi said some of the victims were trapped in their vehicles while some were thrown out.

He said Fire and Rescue Department personnel took at least 40 minutes to extricate the bodies.

All the bodies were taken to Gua Musang Hospital for a post-mortem.

10 die in road horror

Malaysia motorcycle deaths increase with the growing price of gas

The Staff of Clutch and Chrome
July 19th 2008

It appears the story is being repeated worldwide, soaring gas prices move drivers onto two wheels and in turn, motorcycle fatalities increase substantially.

In the case of Malaysia, the increase of a 120,000 extra motorcyclists on the road in the first six months this year is being blamed for an additional 218 motorcyclist deaths during the period of January to June this year, compared to the same time last year.

Every year, some 400,000 new motorcycles are registered.

“Fatal accidents involving motorcyclists have increased for the first six months this year compared to the same period last year even though cases of serious accidents have decreased," said Malaysia's Road Safety Department Director-General.

“Among the reason why this is happening is because more road users are now using motorcycles due to the increase of petrol. People who travelled by car before are now travelling by motorcycle.”

click here
Clutch and Chrome, FL