KUALA LUMPUR – Six victims of the tragedy at the Triso ferry jetty in Saratok, Sarawak, yesterday will be buried in a single grave at the Kg Hulu Muslim cemetery in Simanggang.
Astro Awani reported that the victims’ father, Hamdan Razali, requested that his children be buried as such.
The burial is expected to take place after 12pm today.
The three other victims will be laid to rest at the Sibu Christian cemetery.
The bodies will be buried once the post-mortem and documentation have been completed.
The authorities said the bodies were taken to the Beladin clinic for identification purposes before they were brought to Sri Aman Hospital at 3am for a post-mortem.
At least five hearses have been dispatched to the hospital from Kuching, to bring the bodies home.
In the 3pm incident, nine people drowned when the four-wheel drive they were in plunged into Sg Triso, after slipping off a ferry ramp at the jetty.
“We received an emergency call from the public that a vehicle had plunged into the river from the Triso ferry,” said the Fire and Rescue Department.
“A member of the public recorded the incident on video, which showed victims taken out of the river by members of the public.
“The video showed CPR being administered to the unconscious victims.”
Sri Aman district police chief Bingkok John told Bernama last night that the Ford Ranger driven by Ronany Ting, 33, was on the way to the Sarawak capital from Kapit via Jalan Beladin-Meludam.
“We believe that the driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to veer and slide into the river.”
Besides Ronany, those killed were Siti Aisha Abdullah, 36; Nor Shuhada Mohamad, 16; Khairunnisa Muhamad, 14; Alvin Phang, 12; Wallace Phang and Mohd Aiman Mohd Hamdan, both 7; Muhd Mustaqim Mohd Hamdan, 5; and, Mohd Ahmad Mohd Hamdan, 4 months. – The Vibes, January 2, 2021
