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Eight injured teen cyclists still hospitalised at HSA

The eight teenagers injured in the cycling accident in Jalan Lingkaran Dalam near the Mahmoodiah Muslim cemetery in Johor Baru yesterday are still being treated at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA).

Johor Health and Environment Committee chairperson Ayub Rahmat said two of the patients were treated at the intensive care unit (ICU) while six others were in stable condition in the ward.

"Up till now (9am), all eight patients are still receiving treatment. Two are still in ICU with no changes while six others are in stable condition and waiting to undergo surgery," he said in a statement today.

Two teenagers still in ICU are Mohamed Shamizal Iqmal Abdullah, 16 and Muhd Nazri Mahmudi, 13.

Six others in the ward are Muhammad Fitri Muhammad Fatoni, 17, who sustained hip and body injuries; Muhamad Farhan Che Mat, 16, (right leg fracture); Abdul Samad Abdul Kadir, 16, (left leg fracture); Muhammad Arif Salman, 15, (severe head injuries); Muhammad Zulfadli Yusri, 19, (right leg fracture) and Muhammad Arasshat Abdullah, 14,(right leg fracture).

Apart from the injured victims, the 3am incident also claimed the lives of eight teenagers when their bicycles were mowed down by a Nissan Almera vehicle on the road concerned.

Johor Baru Selatan District Police chief ACP Sulaiman Salleh said a group of 20 to 30 teen cyclists were believed to have obstructed Jalan Lingkaran Dalam and other roads in the vicinity before being ploughed by the woman driver.

He said the 22-year-old driver from Taman Pelangi was believed to have failed to avert from hitting the group of teenagers.

Frequent cyling

According to witnesses who were involved in the incident and survived, there were about 50 to 60 teenagers on bicycles when it occurred while they were heading to the Johor Baru City Square.

The location, which is quite 'far' from residential areas, is a favourite place for the people on weekends, especially for teenagers to meet.

Bernama's journalist has on numerous occasions come across these groups of teenagers cycling on the road used by cars, motorcycles and heavy vehicles.

The route home is an alternative one to Pasir Gudang and Johor Port, which is frequently used by tankers and big cargo lorries.

These teenagers would cycle through this route and pass through several busy roads heading to the city simply to spend time with their peers with similar interests.

Even more alarming is that the teen cyclists used modified bicycles with no lights and wore dark clothes, which are obviously unsuitable for road use.

According to Johor Baru Selatan district police chief ACP Sulaiman Salleh, a total of 28 operations were conducted last year to combat such activities and 37 modified bicycles were seized.

So far this year, 17 such bicycles were seized from five operations that were conducted, he said.

This data indicated that the authorities were constantly carrying out their duties to curb such activities but to no avail.

Throughout yesterday (Saturday), the writer often heard colleagues and others saying these teenage cyclists were "gambling with their lives" on the roads with no trepidation on their faces.

Did the parents or local community take the matter for granted that such a tragedy would happen?

Or if the parents had supervised their children or members of the community took it upon themselves to "mentor" these teenagers, could the tragedy have been averted?

When such a tragedy occurs, someone will start to point fingers, finding fault with each other.

From another perspective, the public must play their role as prudent drivers on the road, which will certainly save lives should an accident take place.

In the incident at 3 am yesterday, the teenage cyclists involved were mowed down by a car driven by a 22-year-old woman.

Cycling is a great activity but the tragedy should serve as a lesson learnt that these teenagers needed guidance so that their interest was not being misunderstood and that they follow the proper channels.

This message was driven home by the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar when visiting the family members and next-of-kin of the victims at the Forensic Department of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital yesterday morning.

"The dead will not come back, let them go, this is also a lesson to parents not to allow their children to go out at night.

"Let them (children) cry, rather than us. I also had a son who had passed on never to come back, if I am sad, you as parents to the victims must be more so. This is my advice," he added.

- Bernama

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