Friday August 19, 2011

Nurse in ambulance-taxi collision succumbs to injuries

By R.S.N. MURALI
murali@thestar.com.my

MALACCA: A nurse who crawled out alive from an overturned ambulance on Monday has died.

Yuhana Yasin, 30, from Parit Jawa, Muar, suffered serious internal injuries in the 6.50pm accident when a taxi rammed the rear of the ambulance at the Seri Negeri/MITC junction in Ayer Keroh.

A critically-ill patient Maryam Baba, 73, who was being rushed to Hospital Kuala Lumpur in the same ambulance, also died at Malacca Hospital due to serious head injuries sustained in the accident.

Yuhana's fianc Mohd Faizal, 30, said they had planned to get married after Hari Raya.

He said Yuhana spoke to him shortly after the accident and said she would be returning home yesterday.

“I was told her condition deteriorated and she died at 1.15am in the Intensive Care Unit,” Mohd Faizal said at the hospital's mortuary yesterday.

Ambulance driver Mambang Rudy Hartono, 41, taxi driver Ali Muhammad Don, 61, and an unidentified medical officer also sustained injuries in the accident.

An eyewitness, Tan Bun Han, 40, said the ambulance was slowing down upon reaching a T-junction before the taxi rammed into it from behind.

“The impact caused the ambulance to land on its side,” he said.

Melaka Tengah Traffic and Public Order Chief Asst Supt V. Gunasegaran said the accident was being investigated.