KUALA NERUS - Three passengers and a van driver were killed while two others were seriously injured in an accident involving four vehicles on Jalan Kuala Terengganu-Kota Bahru near Kampung Sungai Ikan, here on Monday evening.
The accident happened at 6.22pm and involved a van, an express bus and two cars; a Proton Wira and Proton Persona respectively.
The victims who died were Syed Mohd Shukri Tuan Yahya, 36, Muhammad Saufi Jusoh, 38, Mohd Sahlan Mat Saat, 37, while the identity of another victim has yet to be identified.
Witness Syakirah Baharin, 26, said the van from the Setiu direction, which had been carrying the four victims, had allegedly tried to overtake the Proton Wira but failed to do so before losing control and entering the opposite lane.
Syakirah was in the express bus with 12 other passengers from Temerloh, Pahang headed for Jertih, Besut, when the accident happened.
"The van then collided with the bus first and two other vehicles, namely Proton Wira and Proton Persona," she told reporters at the scene on Monday night.
It was understood that the two other victims, the driver of Proton Wira, Muhammad Fazil Hussin, 33, and a passenger of Proton Persona suffered serious injuries.
Kuala Nerus District Fire and Rescue Station Chief Azmi Omar said his team took nearly one hour to remove the victims trapped in the van.
"The bodies of four victims were sent to the Forensic Unit of Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital in Kuala Terengganu at 9.20pm while the two seriously injured victims were also receiving treatment at the same hospital," he said.