KUALA LUMPUR: Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) chairman Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki has instructed the Sabah Mara director and the management of Kota Kinabalu Institut Kemahiran Mara (IKM) to make the necessary arrangements for the families of the victims of a fatal accident in Tuaran earlier today.
Asyraf said he had also requested the Sabah Mara director to assist in facilitating the funeral arrangements for all five victims.
“Condolences to the families of the victims, and may they be placed among the righteous,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
Earlier, Asyraf said he received the tragic news upon his arrival in Sabah.
“I was informed by the Sabah Mara director that all five were killed in an accident at Jalan Sulaman, near the Rela Training Centre in Tuaran, this afternoon,” he said.
The incident, which occurred at about 2pm, claimed the lives of five males aged between 19 and 20, all of whom were confirmed dead at the scene.
The victims were travelling in a Toyota Wish from Sepanggar towards Kota Belud when the vehicle is believed to have lost control, veered into the opposite lane, and collided head-on with a trailer lorry loaded with gravel.
Firefighters used specialised equipment to extricate all five victims from the car before they were taken to Tuaran Hospital.
The deceased have been identified as Harianto Anuar, 20; Neil Stanly Pletinie, 20; Mohammad Ikhwan Kurniawan, 20; Mohamad Zuhaikal Mohd Zaidy, 20; and one victim who has yet to be identified.
District police chief Superintendent Noraidin Ag Maidin confirmed that the driver of the trailer lorry was uninjured.
He added that the case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act for causing death by reckless or dangerous driving.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
