KUALA TERENGGANU, Dec 11 — A holiday outing for a family turned tragic when six of them including three children perished when their Hyundai Starex MPV skidded and crashed at KM288.6 of the Lebuhraya Pantai Timur 2 (LPT2) today.

The accident which happened at the Chukai toll plaza exit at about 5.30pm also left four others injured.

The dead were identified as Ahmad Razi Abd Rahman, 63, (the elder brother of the driver), Pauziah Awang, 56, (the driver’s sister-in-law ), Quratulnisa, 11, and Ahmad Nijat (children of the driver) and Sofea Adriana Shahruddin, seven, who is the granddaughter of Ahmad Razi. 

The driver Ahmad Nasal Abd Rahman, 52, sustained minor injuries while three other of his children namely Ahmad Shakir, 12, Ahmad Mukriz, three, and Quratul Ain, 14, were seriously injured.

Kemaman deputy police chief DSP Normansah Din said another victim identified as Mahani Ngah, 42, who is the wife of the driver, died on the way the Kemaman Hospital while all the injured were also sent to same hospital by passers-by.

According to him, the family was coming from Kedah and had attended a wedding reception in Felda Jengka, Pahang before continuing their journey to Universiti Malaysia Terengganu here to visit the driver’s younger brother.

He said the front left tyre suddenly suffered a puncture causing the MPV to go out of control and skid into the road divider before hitting the pillar of a bridge.

"Ahmad Mukriz and Quratul Ain will be immediately transferred to the  Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital in Kuala Terengganu,” he told reporters.

Meanwhile, a relative when contacted by Bernama said the family had spent some time in Bukit Tinggi before making their journey to Kuala Terengganu to visit other relatives.

Erma Idayu Mohd Yusop said Ahmad Razi Abdul Rahman, who was her uncle and his wife Pauziah Awang lived in Shah Alam, while the others were from Kodiang, Kedah.

"We are getting ready to go to Shah Alam to make the funeral arrangements. One of the children killed was their grandchild,” said Erma Idayu, who is a stringer at Bernama’s Penang bureau. — Bernama