IPOH: A relative of a family of four who perished in a seven-vehicle pile-up on the North-South Expressway had an uneasy feeling when her calls to them went unanswered.
The victims were identified as retired police corporal Rahim Ramli, 60, his wife Siti Petimah Omar, 59, and their two daughters Nor Nadirah, 28, and Nor Hamizah, 27.
The accident, involving a trailer and six cars, occurred along the south-bound lane at 3pm yesterday.
The trailer is believed to have crashed into the car the family was in on KM277.1 of the expressway, near here.
The relative, who wished to be known only as Atie, said she had last spoken to Siti Petimah at noon when they were somewhere near Alor Pongsu, Perak.
“I tried calling her again at about 4.30pm but the call was not answered.
“I called the others as well but there were no answers either, and I started to get this uneasy feeling.
“I then received a call from an aunt who told me what had happened,” she said at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital’s forensic department last night.
Atie, 43, said the family was on their way to Kuala Lumpur to send off one of the daughters who recently got a job there.
The victims are expected to be buried in Permatang Pauh, Penang.
It is learnt that the family was travelling from Sungai Petani, Kedah, to Kuala Lumpur.
A spokesman of the Perak Fire and Rescue Department said its personnel from Meru Raya were dispatched to the scene after they received an emergency call at 3.02pm, according to Bernama.
“One man and three women were trapped in the wreckage.
“Firemen extricated all the victims and they were pronounced dead by medical personnel,” he said in a statement.
Plustrafik, in a Twitter post, said the accident made that stretch impassable and caused traffic to come to a standstill for 7km.
The affected lanes were reopened later and traffic flow was back to normal at 5pm.
