BUS TRAGEDY: VICTIM WAS SUPPOSED TO RETIRE NEXT MONTH

KUANTAN, June 9 (Bernama) -- A school operation assistant who tragically perished in an accident at Jalan Kuantan-Segamat early this morning was scheduled to go on a mandatory retirement next month after working at the school for over 20 years.

Siti Zulaikha Hamzah, 25, said her father, Hamzah Ahmad, 60, a staff member at Sekolah Kebangsaan Jeram, Masjid Tanah, Melaka, was supposed to start his retirement on July 7.

“At first, he was reluctant to join the trip to Terengganu because he was not keen on travelling, but his friends insisted as he was scheduled to retire,” she told reporters when met at the mortuary of Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital here today.

Siti Zulaika said her father became reserved in the days leading up to the trip.

Hamzah, who passed away while receiving treatment at the hospital, will be laid to rest at the Kampung Londang Muslim Cemetery in Masjid Tanah, Melaka after the post-mortem is completed.

In the accident, a teacher, Hasnatul Adilah Hassan, 48, died at the scene, and the second driver of the tour bus, Hadi Asyraf Mad Idris, 29, passed away en route to the hospital.

The crash between the bus and a trailer near the Bahau junction also injured 36 others.

The bus that carried 39 passengers comprising Sekolah Kebangsaan Jeram’s teachers and their children went out of control, hit the trailer lorry laden with iron coils, and overturned on the road at about 1.30 am.

The group was on its way to Terengganu to attend a programme.

-- BERNAMA