Woman dies in accident one day after engagement

JEMPOL - WAN Mohamed Ali Shafawi could not hide his grief when he saw a dress his 22-year-old fiancee and childhood sweetheart Saripah Saodah Md Nazir had worn during their engagement on Sunday in a mangled Proton Wira Aeroback.

'I can't believe she is gone. We were making plans for our wedding,' the Civil Defence Department employee said when met at the Jempol Hospital near here yesterday.

Saripah, her sister Nor Hasikin, 27, and her daughter Natasya Isa, five, were killed when their car collided head-on with a bus at Km13, Jalan Kuala Pilah-Simpang Pertang near here on Monday evening.

Nor Hasikin's son Mohd Iskandar Fahmi, three, survived the tragedy and is being treated at the intensive care unit of the Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital in Seremban.

They were believed to have been heading towards Simpang Pertang from Kuala Pilah when the accident occurred. Preliminary investigations showed that Nor Hasikin lost control of her car while negotiating a bend. She then ploughed into a bus belonging to Sekolah Berasrama Penuh Inte-grasi Jempol. Three of the 26 students in the bus suffered light injuries.

Wan Mohamed said Saripah had been very happy during their engagement ceremony at her parents' home at Felcra Lakai in Jelebu. He added that he had received an SMS from Saripah minutes before the accident. 'She told me that she was on her way home and had plans to go to Simpang Pertang to return the dress which she had rented from a boutique,' he said. -- THE STAR/ANN