According to local authorities, at least ten people died after a small plane crashed on a highway West Malaysia this Wednesday, August 16. Among the fatalities are the drivers of a car and a motorcycle that were circulating in the area.
The incident occurred around 2:50 p.m. (local time), when the aircraft, which had departed from Langkawi Island, was approaching the airport in the state of Selangor. On board were two crew members and six passengers, including a Pahang state politician identified as Johari Harun. The accident occurred on the outskirts of Shah Alam, the capital of Selangor state.
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“For now, I can say that at least ten people died in the plane crash. Two who were passing by, one by car and one by motorcycle, also died. together with the eight who were on board the plane,” he told AFP Mohamad Iqbal Ibrahim.
The head of the civil aviation authority, Norazman Mahmud, announced the opening of an investigation into the causes of the accident, since there is no record that the pilot issued any alert. In this regard, the Selangor police chief, Husein Omar Khan, specified that “the aircraft, which had already received authorization to land, did not make any emergency calls.” “The plane was two minutes from landing. We have the flight manifest, but we can’t release any details at this time,” he added.
“It was like a rocket explosion”: the witness account
For his part, Mohamad Syahmie Mohamad Hashim, a former member of the Malaysian air force, reported that saw the plane flying erratically. “Not long after that, I heard a loud bang,” he told reporters. “I accelerated towards the place and I saw the wreckage of an airplane. I also saw (a) human body in flames. I couldn’t do anything,” she said.
The online news portal Malay Mail cited eyewitnesses who said that the plane exploded on impact with the ground, being that some of the debris from the accident hit a motorcycle. In that sense, videos shared by users on social media showed fire and columns of black smoke rising from the crash site on a lawn on the side of a main road in Shah Alam.
According to the British medium Daily Maila dentist who was working in the area explained that “I was still traumatized by the sound of the plane going by and crashing”. “The sound was so loud that it shook the whole building. It was like a rocket explosion,” she added. Also, a resident said that “the pilot and a passenger were dead at the scene. (The plane) crashed into the road and then went into the grass.”
The Malaysian Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, expressed his condolences on behalf of the Government for what happened and highlighted the work of the emergency servicesaccording to the local newspaper New Straits Times.
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