GEORGE TOWN, Jan 21 — The incident where a SUV vehicle plunged into sea after a collision yesterday was the fifth incident involving the Penang Bridge since 2010.
In the latest incident, a private college student, Moey Yun Peng, 20, lost control of his vehicle after being hit by another car before plunging off the bridge at about 2.54am yesterday. As of 3pm today, the search and rescue operation to locate the victim was still ongoing.
Based on the record obtained by Bernama, the first of such incident was reported on Sept 20, 2010, when a young married couple were killed after the multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) they were travelling in, crashed into the railings before plunging into the sea at 1.30am.
In the second incident on Nov 1, 2012, Tan Lean Loon, 24, a clerk, was killed when his vehicle crashed into the bridge’s side guardrail before hitting a lamp post and plunging into the sea at KM7.9 George Town-bound at 3.30am.
The third incident involving the bridge occurred in 2015 when a man was thrown into the sea after the motorcycle he was riding grazed another motorcycle at KM1.4 at 9.30am on Oct 30.
The victim, Mohammad Noor Firdaus Yahya, 24, suffered slight injuries when his body fell into the mud under the bridge.
On Nov 12, 2015, a man had been thrown out of a car and he had fallen off the bridge, when the car he was in lost control at KM0.6 of the Penang Bridge Perai-bound in the 5.49am incident.
The following is the chronology of the incidents occurred at the Penang Bridge where the victims and vehicles plunged into the sea, since 2010:
*Sept 20, 2010: A young married couple were killed after their MPV vehicle crashed into the bridge’s railings before plunging into the sea in the 1.30am incident;
*Nov 1, 2012: An account clerk died when his vehicle crashed into the wall before plunging into the sea at KM7.9 George Town-bound at 3.30am;
*Oct 30, 2015: A motorcyclist was thrown into the sea after his motorcycle grazed another motorcycle at KM1.4 in the 9.30am incident.
*Nov 12, 2015: a man had been thrown out of a car and he had fallen off the bridge, when the car he was in lost control at KM0.6 Perai-bound in the 5.49am incident;
*Jan 20, 2019: A vehicle driven by a private college student plunged into the sea after a collision with another vehicle at KM4 Perai-bound at 2.54am yesterday. — Bernama
