Child dies, 58 injured in ferry collision
Malaysiakini.com
Nov 25, 2006

A three-year-old boy died while 58 others were injured when two passenger ferries crashed into each other off the west coast of northern Malaysia.

The head-on collision happened near the tourist island of Langkawi at 5.15pm (0915 GMT) on Friday amid rainy weather, Langkawi district officer Mansor Ismail (right) told AFP.

The boy, Mohamad Danial, from northern Kedah state, died seven hours after the head-on crash.

"The boy died after succumbing to severe head injuries almost at midnight at the Langkawi hospital," Mansor said.

An official from the Langkawi district hospital said 58 people were receiving treatment, one of which is the eight-year-old sister of Mohamad Danial, Amira Anui.

"The boy's sister has suffered some serious injuries. She has undergone surgery for a torn scalp," said the official, who declined to be named.

He added one of the injured victims was an Indonesian tourist, who was in a stable condition.

Children with parents

The New Straits Times on Saturday quoted hospital sources as saying that both the children were travelling with their parents in Sejahtera 15, the smaller ferry, when the collision occurred.

Most of the injured victims were on board the Sejahtera 15 which was ferrying 30 passenger while some 100-odd passengers were on board the bigger vessel, the Kenangan 6, the newspaper said.

Jasvinder Singh who was on board the Kenangan 6 told the newspaper that everyone, including crew members had panicked when the vessels collided.

"It was drizzling and visibility was poor. Nobody knew what to do when everyone started to scream, thinking that the ferry had hit something," he said.

"It was bad. The crew of both ferries were not very helpful," he said, according to the newspaper.

Singh's brother, Darshan said help arrived only an hour after the accident occurred.

"It was scary for many of us since we thought the ferries were sinking and help came very slow," Darshan said, adding that there were no life-jackets for children in the ferries.
    
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