FRU crash: Widow says still coming to terms with loss, emotional state still fragile

The Star

20-05-2025

IPOH: The widow of one of the FRU personnel who died in a crash in Teluk Intan last week is still coming to terms with her loss, describing her emotional state as fragile as she learns to navigate life without her husband.
In a heartfelt interview, 32-year-old Noor Hasliza Mohd Hadzri, the wife of the late Kpl Muhamad Akmal Muhamad, 35, said while she has accepted her husband's passing, the process of adjusting to a new reality has been far from easy.
The mother of two said emotionally she is not stable yet, and that because his passing was so sudden, it would take some time for her to truly accept it.
'But I have come to terms with it, that he had passed in a very good way.
'I recall the moment I identified my husband's body, there was a sense of peace that surrounded him even in death.
'Even though there was still blood during the identification process, he already smelled fragrant,' she told reporters after Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad paid her a visit at her house in Bandar Baru Putra near here Tuesday (May 20).
Her in-laws Muhamad Razali, 63 and Ruzita Razali, 59 were also by her side.
Her two children Mohamad Adam Harris, 6, and Nur Aqeela Nadine, one -year- two-months-old, were at school and a babysitter, respectively.
Noor Hasliza, who works in the administration department at the Ipoh district police headquarters said she would now need to adapt to a new routine and environment without her husband.
She said her son is beginning to accept that his father is no longer around.
'When I ask him, he will say, 'Babah has passed away, Babah is in heaven'.
'Sometimes he goes quiet, and when I notice that, I will ask him, 'Are you okay? Don't be sad. If you are sad, recite Al-Fatihah'.
'But the younger one, I notice that she seems to be looking for him, like she is searching for him.
'She keeps whining and saying 'Babah', and looking for him,' she added.
Noor Hasliza added that she had kept her husband's strap from his uniform, the one with his name and the FRU logo on it, and the last T-shirt that he wore.
'I washed the blood out of that shirt and kept it,' she added.
On May 13, the incident occurred when a truck carrying 18 FRU Unit 5 members based in Sungai Senam, Ipoh, collided with a gravel-laden lorry that veered into the opposite lane.
The collision resulted in eight FRU members dying at the scene and one succumbing to injuries at Teluk Intan Hospital, while nine others were injured, some critically.
During the incident, the FRU vehicle was returning to Ipoh along with six other FRU vehicles after completing duties for the Chitra Pournami festival in Teluk Intan.