Ng Poh Ngoh, 23, one of the 10 passengers killed in the express bus tragedy near Ipoh today, was due to report for work on Jan 4.

Her father Ng Chin Beng, 62, said Poh Ngoh, the eldest girl among four siblings, was returning home to Alor Star after attending a job interview in Kuala Lumpur and was scheduled to start in her job on Jan 4.

"She had a bright future ahead but it's now all over," he told reporters outside the mortuary of the Raja Permaisuri Bainun hospital here.

Hardly able to control his grief, he said Poh Ngoh had only recently graduated in the multimedia field from Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) and that the family had placed high hopes on her.

Chin Beng added that his youngest child, Kah Kit, 14, who was also killed in the tragedy, had followed his sister to Kuala Lumpur for sightseeing in conjunction with the school holidays.

Khairil Shahrin, 24 - the eldest child of Shaharin Mohd Nor, 61, and Supiah Adam, 46, who also lost their lives in the tragedy - said they told him to take good care of his siblings while he was sending them to the bus terminal in Section 17 Shah Alam before they boarded the ill-fated bus for the journey to Perlis.

He said they were going to Kangar to bring back a company vehicle.

Another victim Noor Jismi Noordin, 25, was to be engaged tomorrow.

Her father, Noordin Osman, 54, when met at the family's home in Kangar, said all arrangements had been made for the occasion but accepted what had happened as fated.

"Noor Jismi had bought the engagement ring herself and was looking forward to her engagement with Rosma Abdullah, 23, tomorrow," said Noordin, who is also a schoolteacher and rugby coach in Perlis.

Rosma, who was also present, was too grief-stricken to talk to reporters.

Noor Jismi, an employee of Kumpulan Karangkraf Sdn Bhd, had taken the bus to return home for the engagement but it was not to be.

Her remains were buried at the Kampung Jarak Muslim Cemetery in Kangar at 2pm.

Close friends killed

Meanwhile, Abdul Ghafur Sukimi, 53, who lives here, said he rushed over to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital after watching the 7am television news bulletin in which the names of his nephew Mohd Bilal Osman, 22, and his (Mohd Bilal's) friend Mohd Shukri Mohd Ali, 22, were mentioned as being killed in the tragedy.

"I then contacted Mohd Bilal's mother and was told the police had already contacted the family at 6.30am on the matter. She then asked me to make arrangements for Mohd Bilal's body to be brought back for burial in Sungai Besar, Selangor.

"The two of them were very close friends neighbours in Sungai Besar. They were on their way to Perlis to register for the second semester of studies at Universiti Malaysia Perlis (Unimap),' he said.

The tragedy happened when a double-decker Sani Express bus skidded and hit the road divider at Km272.8 of the North-South Expressway as it was heading north, about 8km after the Ipoh Selatan toll plaza.

Two people were also injured, one seriously while the two drivers and the 36 other passengers on board were unhurt.

- Bernama