BATU PAHAT - An eight-year-old girl was killed after she was hit by a van in front of Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Seri Maimon in Parit Sulong here this afternoon.
Batu Pahat district police chief ACP Shahrulanuar Mushaddat Abdullah Sani said the accident is believed to have occurred at about 12.30pm in front of the school’s main gate.
He said preliminary investigations by the district Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Division found that the accident occurred when a van, which had just delivered goods, was moving out of the school’s main gate, heading towards Jalan Simpang Lima-Parit Sulong.
"The van struck the victim, who was on foot, in front of the school’s main gate. The victim, a standard two student at the school, sustained severe head and internal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene by an assistant medical officer from Klinik Kesihatan Parit Sulong,” he said in a statement today.
Meanwhile, the van driver, a 60-year-old local man, was not injured.
He said the van driver has been detained to assist investigations under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for causing death by reckless or dangerous driving.
The remains of Nur Aini Umairah Mohd Fareez, 8, were laid to rest at the Kampung Parit Mustaffa Islamic Cemetery at about 9pm.
In a separate statement, the Johor Education Department extended its condolences to the victim’s family and stated that it is arranging appropriate assistance to help ease their burden and ensure their welfare is taken care of.
Meanwhile, the victim’s grandfather, Tugiran Loso, 67, said he never expected the final wave she gave before leaving for school at about 7am today would become his last memory of her.
He said every day before going to school, his granddaughter would wave at him and upon returning home, she would call out his name.
"Starting tomorrow, there will be no more waves as she has left us forever and I will miss those moments.
"I found out about her passing from her mother, Asmilah Tugiran, 38, who was on her way to pick her up from school. She only realised her child had been involved in an accident after identifying her from the shoes she was wearing,” he said when met at his home in Kampung Parit Mustaffa, here, today. - BERNAMA