Kuala Krai crash: Dad haunted by daughter's final video call

New Straits Times

2 days ago

JOHOR BARU: A father recalled the heartbreaking final video call with his only daughter, made just hours before she and her husband were killed in a car crash in Kuala Krai, Kelantan.
Mohd Shah Penilzain Mohamed Said, 45, said the call was the first time he had ever spoken to both his daughter and son-in-law together via video.
His daughter, Nurul Atikah Najihah, 18, her husband, Muhammad Faris Kamaludin, 24, and her mother, Nurul Ain Abdul Rahim, 39, were killed when their Perodua Myvi collided with an express bus along Jalan Kuala Krai–Gua Musang in Kampung Sungai Sam, on May 30.
"I made the video call before they left. She looked happy and even asked if I remembered buying her nasi kepal (rice moulded into a ball).
"She told me she found cheaper ones and it reminded her of me.
"I didn't know it would be the last time we spoke," he said when met at the Kassim Noor Muslim Cemetery in Kampung Sungai Danga, where the couple were laid to rest side by side today.
Mohd Shah, who works in Putrajaya, said he received the tragic news at 5pm that day.
He said he was on his way home from work when he got the call.
"My knees buckled on the spot... it felt as though every drop of blood had been drained from my body.
"I felt weak, completely hollow.
"Even now, I haven't truly recovered.
"But I've had to come to terms with it... I have to accept that she's gone.
"I called her Najihah.
"She had kept in touch via WhatsApp throughout the journey, updating me on their route and rest stops."
He said the couple initially planned to use Jalan Muadzam, but they changed their route to the expressway due to poor road conditions.
He said her daughter last texted him from Raub, Pahang, saying they were entering Kuala Lipis.
"After that, my calls went unanswered. Then the worst news came," he said.
Mohd Shah and Najihah's mother, Nurul Ain are divorced.
Both have since remarried.
Nurul Ain's body was claimed by her husband.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Faris's father, Kamaludin Abdullah, 52, said it was his son's first time driving such a long distance.
"He finished work at 11.30pm and left for Kelantan shortly after midnight.
"He texted his mother that he had stopped to rest at R&R Seremban.
"He was very close to her," he said, adding that Faris was the third of seven siblings and known for his warmth and humour.
"The loss is beyond words. During the journey to claim the bodies, my wife fainted from grief.
"But we accept this as fate," he said.