THE joy after returning from voting in their hometowns in Penang and Kedah was short-lived when two family members were killed, after the car they were travelling in was involved in a crash with another vehicle at Km452 of the North-South Expressway (southbound), near Sungai Buloh, early this morning.

The two who were confirmed dead at the scene were identified as Mat Zaki Mahmud, 48, and daughter, Mya Zaratul Nuraishah Mat Zaki, 13.

Zaki’s cousin, Farizal Othman, 37, said they were on their way to Pahang after voting in Penang and Kedah and travelling in three cars.

“This incident happened in the blink of an eye. I did not see how it happened. I only heard a loud bang, which made me stop to see what had happened,” he told Bernama at the Sungai Buloh Hospital Forensic Unit today.

“I saw that Mat Zaki and Mya were outside the vehicle (probably having been thrown out) while Mat Zaki’s younger brother, Mohd Fauzi, was in the vehicle. The other children were in the back seat.”

Meanwhile, Sungai Buloh district police chief Shafa’aton Abu Bakar, who confirmed this incident, said preliminary investigations found that both vehicles were travelling southbound.

“The Proton Wira driven by Mohd Fauzi is believed to have lost control and hit the road divider, which caused the Toyota Vios car coming from behind to hit the front side of the car,” he said.

“The victims, Mat Zaki and Mya Zaratul Nuraishah, were confirmed dead at the scene by the Sungai Buloh Hospital medical assistant, while the other injured victims were taken to the hospital for treatment.”

He said the case was being investigated under section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.

The three children who sustained injuries were Nur Zafrina Nashtasya Mat Zaki, 15, and her brother, Muhammad Iman Zafran, nine, and their cousin, Muhammad Fuad Syraf Mohd Fauzi, 11.

Another car, a Toyota Vios, was driven by 49-year-old Nazri Rajab. He and his wife, Ruzaini Md Ramzi, 46, with one of their children, Muhammad Naim Nazri, 15, suffered minor injuries. – Bernama, November 22, 2022.