BUKIT MERTAJAM, March 20 — The families of five students, including four classmates, killed in the road accident on Tuesday night, plan to cremate their bodies and keep the ashes side-by-side at the Berapit crematorium near here.
The cremation of four of the victims will be carried out today, and the fifth tomorrow.
Tan Chee Win, 17, from Sungai Jawi, and Mar Jing Quan, 18, Song Jing Ping, 17, and Chye Zhi Fei, 17, all from Sungai Bakap, died at the scene when the car they were travelling in skidded from the right lane and hit the road divider before crashing into two trees and flipping over.
The fifth victim, Ngan Wei Ming, also 17, was taken to Seberang Jaya Hospital but died shortly after admission.
They studied at SMK Valdor.
Police could not immediately ascertain who the driver of the car was.
The incident occurred at about 10pm at Km141.9 of the North-South Highway near the Juru toll plaza.
Police said the five were returning home when the incident happened.
Fire and Rescue Department Prai station chief operations officer Norizal Md Rabani said they received a distress call at about 10pm.
He said it took them about 15 minutes to extricate the victims from the mangled wreckage.
Families claimed the bodies after post-mortems were conducted at Seberang Jaya Hospital yesterday.
Zhi Fei’s mother, who identified herself as Teoh, said her son was the youngest in the family.
“He was a smart boy and worked very hard,” she said.
“He was always friendly to everyone and was close to all those who died in the incident.
“We plan to place their ashes side-by-side after cremation because we do not want to separate them even after their deaths.”
Chee Win’s father, Tan Chin Joo, 47, a fish wholesaler, said he last heard from his son that they were heading towards Megamall in Prai for a movie.
