School bus strikes and kills 7-year-old in Malaysia; driver faints at scene

A seven-year-old boy in Malaysia died after he was struck and run over by a school bus on Wednesday (July 15). 

The school bus had dropped off Muhammad Umar near Taman Sri Lalang in Kluang, Johor at around 4.30pm on Wednesday, reported Malaysian media.

The bus driver, a 36-year-old woman, had then tried to make a turn into Jalan Bunga Raya 3 and her vehicle collided with the child who was on the left side of the road, The Star reported.

"As a result of the collision, the boy fell onto the road and suffered severe head injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene," Kluang police department assistant commissioner Bahrin Mohd Noh told media on Wednesday.

The bus driver also reportedly fainted upon realising what had happened and was subsequently taken to a hospital for treatment.

The boy's mother, Nurul Shahira Salim, was seen holding her son at the scene as she wept, according to Says.

'I don't know how much pain he went through'

His father, Mohd Faaiz Muran, told media on Thursday that he had been at work in Selangor when he was informed of the accident and rushed to the scene.

"I don't know how much pain he went through when I saw his body. I could not bear to look at his condition," he said after his son's funeral on Thursday, The New Straits Times reported.

The 35-year-old also reminisced how his son had asked to be carried and hugged, which he had never done before.

"He also asked for various things, including a bicycle, and promised me that he would study hard," Faaiz said.

While he managed to fulfil most of his son's requests, he is no longer able to take him for a walk with his twin younger sisters in Taman Sri Kluang on Friday (July 17).

Faaiz also shared that his family does not blame the bus driver for Umar's death, stating that he had accepted it as fate.

The boy was buried on Wednesday following a post-mortem examination at the Enche' Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com