Gerik Crash: Shattered hope as families receive death certificates

The Sun

2 days ago

JERTIH: Nearly a year ago, Mohamad Isma Abdul Manaf sent off his eldest daughter, Nur Dalila Farhana, to university with the hope that she would return home with a degree.
But fate had other plans. Instead of a degree, today, the 47-year-old father received his daughter's death certificate.
Nur Dalila Farhana, 21, was among the 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students who perished in the tragic crash along the East-West Highway in Gerik, Perak, on Monday.
'It tore me apart to see my daughter's name on a death certificate. No parent ever wishes to face that, but this is my fate. I have to accept it and stay strong,' he told Bernama after receiving the document from Terengganu National Registration Department (NRD) director Mohamad Nasir Kareem at the family's home in Kampung Bharu Tok Dhor here.
Mohamad Isma said that the death certificate in hand would ease matters for him and his wife, Norinda Kasim, 49, in handling other affairs, such as insurance claims and related issues.
The crash occurred when the chartered bus, en route from Jertih to UPSI's main campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak, collided with a Perodua Alza multipurpose vehicle before overturning.
The accident also left 33 others injured, including the bus driver and his assistant, as well as the driver and three passengers of the Perodua Alza.
Meanwhile, Mohamad Nasir said that eight death certificates were handed over to the next of kin at their respective residences today, adding that five others were collected by family members at the NRD counters, whereas two more are still being processed.
'This is an initiative by the NRD to ease the burden on families by handling the death registration process for their children without requiring them to be present at the NRD counters in Besut or Setiu,' he added.