a day ago
'We made the wrong turn': Final words of woman in Jerantut crash that killed 5
JERANTUT: Housewife Norhayati Ismail was filled with excitement as four of her nieces and nephews from Bota, Perak, were on their way to celebrate Hari Raya Aidiladha at her home in Kampung Paya Gunung for the first time.
Just past midnight earlier today, the 60-year-old was on the phone giving them directions to her house.
They were less than 500 metres from the main junction when the call suddenly went silent.
Moments later, she heard faint voices on the line saying "pengsan" (fainted) and "kemalangan" (accident), prompting her to ask her son to check their last known location.
Shortly after, she received the devastating news that none of them had survived the crash.
The four siblings, including another relative who was driving the Proton Bezza, were killed at the scene.
Three others, including a woman travelling in a Toyota Alphard, sustained injuries.
Speaking about the tragic incident, Norhayati said her niece, Nur Arfiqah Aziz Jaafar, 23, had called her shortly after midnight to inform her that they were nearby but had taken a wrong turn.
"Arfiqah said they had entered a junction near a restaurant.
"I told them to turn back and head to the next junction near Jerantut Feri.
"We spoke for about five minutes before the call suddenly went silent.
"Sometime later, I heard people speaking, but it was unclear until someone mentioned 'pengsan' and 'kemalangan'.
"I sensed something was wrong and told my son to go check," she told reporters outside the forensic unit at Jerantut Hospital today.
Norhayati said that at about 12.50am, her son, Muhammad Azuwan Arif Shah, 34, called to inform her that the car his four cousins were travelling in had been involved in an accident.
Meanwhile, Azuwan said that after receiving the call from his mother, he rushed to the main road nearby to investigate.
"When I arrived at the scene, it was chaotic. I saw two of them lying inside the car, while another was sprawled on the road.
"Some passers-by had stopped to help. We found two other victims lying about 10 metres from the car," he said.
Azuwan said that once the post-mortem procedures are completed, the victims' remains would be brought back to their hometown in Padang Kunchor, Bota, Perak, for burial.
Norhayati said several other relatives had arrived in two cars on Thursday to celebrate Aidiladha at her home, while the crash victims were the last group to depart from Perak around 6pm yesterday.
