IPOH - A sexagenarian died due to stray dogs that frequently disturbed road users on Jalan Pusat Perniagaan Silibin 1 near Silibin, on Monday.
The tragedy occurred at about 7.15am while the victim, Rohani Nek, 69, was on her way home after dropping off her grandson Adam Mikeil Shaizul Nizam, 11, at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Silibin.
The victim's granddaughter Nur Farah Allysha Shaizul Nizam, 18, said it was her grandmother's routine to ride a motorcycle to drop off her younger brother to school, which was about 1.7 kilometres from their home.
"The route passes through an industrial area, so there are many stray dogs that often chase motorcyclists.
"On the day of the incident, five dogs chased my grandmother's motorcycle after she dropped off Adam.
"We never expected that on her way back, she would be in an accident trying to avoid a stray dog crossing the road," she said when met at their home at Jalan Budiman, Kampung Tengku Hussin Baru, Manjoi, today.
Farah said her grandmother often expressed fear of being chased by stray dogs but had no choice because it was the main road for road users in the area.
She said the family was still grieving the loss of her father who died in March due to a road accident.
"My grandmother often expressed that she misses my father and dreamt about him.
"Adam is the most affected because he is the closest to our grandmother, who cared for him since he was little. He is still traumatised and could not bring himself to come home because of the many memories of her," she said.
The victim's son Shazrin Mohd Mokhtar, 48, urged the local authorities (PBT) to learn from the incident that befell his mother so that full enforcement could be implemented.
The private sector worker said based on a closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, a dog crossed the road as his mother was passing through the scene.
"In the CCTV footage, there were also many stray dogs and some were seen chasing other motorcycle riders. It was shocking to see such situation, especially in the morning when people are rushing to work.
"What worries me is that it is near a school area; we do not want any unfortunate incidents to happen to the students," he said.
Meanwhile, Ipoh district police chief Assistant Commissioner Abang Zainal Abidin Abang Ahmad in a statement said the case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
He asked witnesses of the incident to come forward by contacting investigating officer Inspector Edwin Tang Chiew Song at 016-5506863 to assist in the investigation.