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The couple who died in Monday’s crash on the East Coast Expressway (LPT) were co-founders of the popular Secangkir Cafe in Kuantan.
News of their deaths prompted an outpouring of condolences on the cafe’s social media pages.
Muhammad Nazatul Nazmi, 32, his wife Nur Atiqah Sofiya Mohd Kazwan, 32, and their four-year-old son were travelling in a Proton S70 after celebrating National Day in Putrajaya when their car was caught in an 11-vehicle pile-up.
The crash occurred at KM110.4 of the LPT1 eastbound, near the Temerloh Toll Plaza exit in Lanchang, Temerloh. The family of three, along with one other victim, were killed; three more people were injured.
The incident, which occurred at about 10 pm, involved four cars, three SUVs, an MPV, a pickup truck, a tanker lorry and a bus. Initial investigations indicate a cement lorry lost control and ploughed into slow-moving traffic.
The fourth victim, Seow Beng Wain, 55, from Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam, was a passenger in a Honda CR-V.
The tanker driver and a man in an SUV were seriously injured, while all 30 bus passengers escaped unhurt.
Pahang Fire and Rescue Department operations division assistant director Mohd Salahuddin Isa said all four victims were trapped in their vehicles, and firefighters took over an hour to extricate the bodies.
The bodies were sent to the Sultan Ahmad Shah Hospital for post-mortem examinations.
A call for a thorough investigation
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim called for a thorough investigation into the accident.
He extended his deepest condolences to the victims’ families and prayed that their loved ones be given strength and fortitude in these trying times.
He also advised the public to drive with care and to respect road safety laws.
The scale of the pile-up triggered an immediate 7.2-kilometre traffic jam along the eastbound stretch of LPT1, trapping thousands of holiday travellers for hours.
Police are formally investigating the 52-year-old cement tanker driver under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for reckless driving causing death. The driver himself survived but sustained severe injuries.
Following the Prime Minister’s prompt, Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil and other cabinet members have publicly targeted vehicle inspection compliance, pressuring the Ministry of Transport over the presence of heavy commercial vehicles on highways during restricted holiday periods.
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