SETIU: The Terengganu government is negotiating with the Air Force to arrange a mercy flight for a Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) student injured in the bus crash on the East-West Highway to return home.
State welfare, women's development, family and national unity committee chairman Maliaman Kassim said the student, Nur Erika Alisya Mohd Zaidi, 21, who is still receiving treatment at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh, can only be transported back to Terengganu by air.
"The hospital said she cannot travel by land due to her injuries. So we are negotiating with the Air Force for a mercy flight to bring Nur Erika home via," he said on Friday (June 20) after visiting another injured UPSI student, Aimi Nusaha Che Azmi, 21, in Kampung Gong Batu, Bandar Permaisuri, here.
Maliaman said in addition to Nur Erika, there is another UPSI student still receiving treatment at the Ipoh hospital and another at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. The rest have returned to their respective hometowns.
He also said the state government had provided aid to 48 victims and family members involved in the tragedy, namely RM3,000 to the families of the deceased and RM1,000 to those injured, including the bus driver, co-driver and four individuals in a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV).
He added that the state government would continue to assist the victims, including for medical costs, adding that Nur Erika had incurred the highest cost of RM18,588.
In the early June 9 incident, 15 UPSI students died when a bus travelling from Jertih to the UPSI campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak, overturned in an accident with an MPV on the highway.
Another 33 were injured, including the bus driver and co-driver, as well as the driver and three passengers of the MPV. – Bernama