BUTTERWORTH - Still dazed and in shock, Bangkok Erawan Shrine bombing survivor Neoh Ee Ling, who is five months' pregnant, could not bring herself to be present for the arrival of the bodies of her husband and daughter.
The bodies of her husband Lee Tze Siang, 35, and four-year-old daughter Jiang Xuan arrived at their home at Taman Cengal here at about 1.50am yesterday.
Tze Siang's brother Tze Dung, 31, said Ee Ling, 33, was still distraught following the deaths of her husband, daughter, mother Lim Saw Gek, 49, and brother Jai Jun, 20, all in one day.
Ee Ling's father Hock Guan, 55, survived with minor injuries.
Tze Dung said Ee Ling also sustained injuries in her ear in the blast and is still having hearing difficulties.
He said Ee Ling had told him that the family was praying at the shrine before a loud explosion took place.
"Ee Ling was rushed to a hospital in Bangkok and she only managed to find her father and not the others," Tze Dung said at the house yesterday.
He said he was working in Haadyai when the blast occurred and took a flight to Bangkok to look for his relatives at the hospital.
Tze Dung said he identified his brother's body and that of Jing Xuan at the hospital as Yee Ling was too distraught to do so.
Tze Dung and Ee Ling accompanied Tze Siang's and Jing Xuan's caskets on the flight from Bangkok to Penang.
Seen waiting at the house was Jing Xuan's six-year-old brother Jian Han, Tze Siang's 61-year-old father Tiang Heng, family members and close friends.
Tze Dung said his nephew Jian Han was still confused and puzzled about was going on around him.
"He keeps asking for his father and sister, but we try to distract him," he said, adding that Jian Han would take part in the last rites for his father and sister.
The father and daughter would be cremated at the Berapit Crematorium today. The cortege will leave the house at 10am.
Gerakan president and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Mah Siew Keong visited the victims' families yesterday.
Mah, who also visited the victims' house in Taman Dedap, handed over RM1,000 each to the families of the bomb blast victims.