ALOR GAJAH, Dec 24 (Bernama) -- The police have identified five of the seven victims killed in a crash involving five vehicles - a bus, car, two lorries and a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) - at Kilometre 204 of the northbound North-South Expressway (PLUS) here last night.
Alor Gajah district police chief Supt Ashari Abu Samah identified the victims as MPV driver Khairul Ikhwan Mazupi, 32, and his son, two-year-old Muhammad Umar, from Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor.
The others are two other passengers in the MPV, Fadzlenna Ramli, 32, her father Ramli Ab Wahab, 67, from Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur and bus driver Noorisnien Khamid, 56, (he), (rpt: Noorisnien Khamid) from Skudai, Johor.
The identity of the other two fatalities, a passenger in the MPV and a bus passenger, has yet to be ascertained, he said.
He said the crash was believed to have happened when a dislodged tyre from a lorry, which was heading towards the south, landed in the middle of the road.
The driver of the bus, with 27 passengers, which was coming from the same direction could not avoid hitting the tyre, forcing him to lose control of the wheel. The bus then skidded into the opposite lane before crashing into a car and then the lorry and the MPV, he said in a statement.
He said the impact of the crash caused the car to veer into the left lane and then crash into the road barrier.
"The crash resulted in the death of seven people at the scene involving a driver and four MPV passengers in addition to a bus driver and a bus passenger. The bodies were sent to Melaka Hospital for post-mortem while the case is investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987," he said.
Meanwhile, the police have identified the remaining two victims killed in the crash. They are Fauziah Jaafar, 69, a passenger in the MPV, while the bus passenger is Singaporean woman Lamrah Asid Ali, 66.
Ashari urged those who witnessed the incident to contact the Alor Gajah district police station at at 06-5564153 or its Traafic Investigating officer Insp Mohd Azmin Ismail at 010-8182624 or the nearest police station to assist investigation.
-- BERNAMA
