TODDLER KILLED, SIX HURT IN MELAKA CRASH AS DRIVER NODS OFF AT WHEEL

MELAKA, March 22 (Bernama) -- A two-year-old boy was killed and six others injured in an accident involving two cars on Jalan Penghulu Jaabar in Bukit Katil here today.

The toddler, Muhammad Alexander Zulkarnain Muhammad Nur Basir, who was a passenger in a Perodua Axia car, died while receiving treatment at the Melaka Hospital due to severe head injuries at about 4 pm today.

Melaka Tengah police chief ACP Christopher Patit said that in the accident at about 2.40 pm today, Alexander was in the Perodua Axia car driven by his mother Nurul Nadiah Mustapha Kamal, 31, along with his seven-year-old sister and two older brothers aged four and nine.

“From our initial investigation, the Perodua Axia was heading from Melaka town towards Tehel when the woman driver (Nurul Nadiah) apparently lapsed into ‘microsleep’ (falling asleep for a few seconds) at the wheel.

“As a result, the car veered into the opposite lane and hit an oncoming Perodua Myvi coming from Bukit Katil towards Duyong,” he said in a statement here today.

He said the driver of the Perodua Axia suffered a broken right leg while her three other children sustained broken right legs and wounds to their legs and faces.

He said the driver of the Perodua Myvi, who was a 34-year-old man, and the sole passenger who is his 45-year-old brother, each had injuries to their stomach and chest.

Christopher said all the injured victims were being treated at the Melaka Hospital and the case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 (for reckless driving).

-- BERNAMA