BUTTERWORTH: A married couple cheated death as a large tree crushed their car, missing them by mere centimetres, in yet another incident involving falling trees in Penang.
The husband was driving his six-month pregnant wife, who had chosen to sit in the rear – a decision that saved her life because the tree’s main branch of at least 30cm in diameter crumpled their car roof as it crashed squarely onto the front passenger seat.
The pair was driving along Jalan Raja Uda-Jalan Siram intersection here when the tree fell on their car during the stormy weather early yesterday morning.Another thing to be thankful about is that the calamity happened in front of a Hindu temple, with many devotees there to perform their morning prayers rushing to help the couple.
Devotee K. Raman Nair, 60, heard the crash at 9am and rushed to see the tree on the car.
“I called out to everyone in the temple to come out and help,” he said.
Relief came quickly when they saw that the couple trapped inside were alive, though in a state of shock.
The car was so badly contorted that it was impossible to force open the doors manually.
However, as the windows were cracked, Raman Nair and the others smashed the glass with their elbows and pulled them out.
The woman escaped unscathed, while her husband walked away with minor cuts to his arms from the broken glass.
“I saw how the front passenger seat was crushed by the tree. It was so lucky that the wife sat in the back instead of the front,” Raman said.
Bagan MCA treasurer Henry Tan was nearby and rushed to the scene in time to see the victims rescued. He said he was able to converse with them to ascertain they were fine.
“They asked not to be identified and expressed their gratitude to the Hindu devotees who saved them,” he said.
This was the most dramatic instance of trees falling in Penang, with the state having recorded more than 200 roadside trees falling at 133 locations on the island side alone during stormy weather, said Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
Meanwhile, Bernama reported that 10 ferry trips on the Langkawi-Kuala Kedah-Langkawi route have been cancelled due to 5m-high waves off the waters of Kuala Kedah.
Some 4,000 passengers were affected by the incident yesterday.
Konsortium Ferrylines Ventures Sdn Bhd general manager Capt Dr Baharin Baharom said the 10 trips involved four ferries from Langkawi to Kuala Kedah with a total of 2,154 passengers and six ferries from Kuala Kedah to Langkawi with 1,791 passengers.
He said in a statement that the cancelled trips were scheduled between 9.30am and 1.30pm.
“Affected passengers can make a claim for refund or change the trip date with the ferry management company.
“Additional ferries are being provided at the Kuala Perlis Passenger Jetty Terminal, but subject to the terminal’s capacity and sea condition,” he added.
