Squashed: All that’s left of the crushed car after the collision with the truck at the notorious ‘underpass of death’ in Gelugor, Penang.
GEORGE TOWN: Three people, including a policeman’s son, were killed in a road accident at the ‘deadly’ Gelugor underpass which had claimed several lives in the past.
Muhammad Syaril Azzim Mohd Sabuki, 26, and a friend, Nurfaizneey Kamaruzzaman, 25, died on the spot in the 3.15am accident yesterday.
A 21-year-old youth, the back passenger travelling in the Perodua Myvi with the two, has been warded at the Penang Hospital. His condition is said to be critical.
The car they were in had earlier collided head-on with a Mitsubishi Triton pick-up truck, whose driver Tai Lai Keat, 38, died on his way to the Penang Hospital.
It is learnt that Tai was heading towards the Penang Bridge from Jalan Masjid Negeri while the Myvi was coming from the opposite direction.
Firemen were called in to extricate the bodies of Muhammad Syaril Azzim, whose father is a policeman, and Nurfaizneey, from the mangled car.
The dead: (From left) Muhammad Syaril, Nurfaizneey and Tai.
Operations commander Senior Officer II Saladdin Abd Rahim and his team were seen having a tough time trying to free the victims pinned in their seats.
George Town OCPD Asst Comm Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said they were investigating the case for reckless driving.
“We urge witnesses to come forward to assist in the investigation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tai’s sister Phaik Im, 41, said they had planned to have a reunion dinner with her brother during Chinese New Year.
“He seldom came home to have meals with us as he had a family of his own.
“A few days ago, my mum asked him to join us for a reunion dinner.
“We were looking forward to that but now he is gone,” said Phaik Im at the Penang Hospital mortuary yesterday.
At the mortuary, a relative of Nurfaizneey, who wanted to be known only as Muhamad, said the family accepted her death.
“We take it as God’s will,” he said.
The underpass had seen numerous fatalities, including a 33-year-old motorist who died after crashing his vehicle in the road median near the underpass on July 18, 2014.
On Oct 19, 2007, a man died after his car collided head-on with a bus at the same place.
In 1999, four men were killed when their car hit the railing along Jalan Masjid Negeri, before plunging more than 7m into the underpass.
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