THREE victims who lost their lives in a fatal road accident near Rompin on Sunday evening have been identified, with police confirming they were returning home after attending a wedding in Melaka.
The crash occurred around 5.30pm along Jalan Bahau-Keratong near the Orang Asli settlement of Bukit Serok, Muadzam Shah, when the car they were travelling in collided head-on with a four-wheel drive.
The victims were Aida Asmalia Abu Samah, 46, who was driving the car; Chempaka Alara Azizi, aged three; and 18-year-old matriculation student Siti Auni Syafiqa Sheikh Ali.
Rompin District Police Chief, Superintendent Sharif Shai Sharif Mondoi, said Aida Asmalia was pronounced dead at the scene after being trapped in the vehicle, while the two other victims died during treatment at Hospital Muadzam Shah.
“The car, driven by Aida Asmalia, was heading to Kuantan after a wedding in Alor Gajah. Preliminary investigations suggest the vehicle lost control, veered into the opposite lane and collided with an oncoming four-wheel drive driven by a 32-year-old man,” he said in a media statement.
Four others were injured in the accident, including two children: Adam Wafiy Muqri Jaslihardi, 14, son of the driver, and Siti Adawiya Syauqina, 13, sister of the late Siti Auni Syafiqa. Also injured was Amelia Kartika Mappatata, 32, mother of Chempaka Alara, and the driver of the four-wheel drive.
All injured passengers were transferred to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA) in Kuantan for further treatment, while the four-wheel drive driver is receiving care at Hospital Muadzam Shah.
Sharif Shai confirmed that the bodies were sent to HTAA for post-mortem examinations. The case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
In a heartbreaking detail, the father of Siti Auni Syafiqa, Sheikh Ali Sheikh Mustafa, 50, shared that the last words he heard from his daughter were during a video call the night before the accident.
“She said, ‘I can’t wait to come home and hug you,’” he recalled while speaking at the HTAA Forensic Department.
“She and her younger sister travelled to Melaka with their mother on Thursday to attend a wedding. They were supposed to return separately, and my daughter called to say she missed me,” he said.
“I reminded her to be careful. Then yesterday afternoon, someone I didn’t know called to say she was gone—and that another of my daughters was critically injured.”
Siti Auni Syafiqa, who was studying at Kolej Matrikulasi Gambang, had been under treatment at the National Heart Institute (IJN) since the age of four due to a congenital heart condition.
“We were due for another appointment soon, but now that will never happen,” her father said.
Her body is expected to be laid to rest at the Islamic Cemetery in Kampung Bunian, Chenor, Maran, following the completion of the autopsy. - August 25, 2025
