SUNGAI PETANI, MALAYSIA - A trip to visit a sick relative and a newborn grandchild ended in tragedy for a family when the van they were travelling in skidded and rammed into a tree, killing three of them.

Ex-army personnel Ismail Ahmad, 53, his wife Solehah Samah, 45, and their son, Mohd Sallehuddin, died instantly in the accident at Km103.8 (north-bound) of the North-South Expressway near here at about 7.45am.

They were from Taman Parona, Sungai Udang, in Malacca.

Two others - Ismalini Ismail, 23 and Siti Nor Ain Ismail, 21 - were seriously injured while driver Ismaliza Ismail, 28, Nor Rahmah Ismail, 18, and Nor Sakinah Ismail, 13, sustained minor injuries.

They were heading towards Simpang Empat in Perlis to visit a sick relative and the newborn at Kampung Pida 4, Mukim Tunjang, Ayer Hitam in Kedah.

It is learnt that Ismail had been driving when they started out at 11pm on Saturday.

At about 4am, his daughter Ismaliza, who works at the Malacca Mentri Besar's office, took over the wheel upon reaching Ipoh.

Islami Ismail, 31, Ismail's eldest son, said: "My father called me at about 2am yesterday from the Sungai Buloh rest area to tell me about his trip to Simpang Empat.

"At about 8am, my sister Ismaliza called to inform me that they had been involved in a road accident," he said.

Ismail's sister Siti Aishah Ahmad, 36, said she received an SMS from their faher at about 1.30am yesterday.

"He told me he was on the way to my house in Kampung Sungai Bujur, near Sungai Limau, to visit sisters and brothers whom he had not seen for quite some time," she added.

Ismaliza when met after being wheeled out from the emergency room of Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital in Sungai Petani, said she did not know what happened. "I don't know.... I want to see father - I want to see father," she said in tears.

The three were laid to rest later in the evening at the Muslim cemetery of the Matang Bonglai Mosque in Jerlun, Kedah.

The Star/Asia News Network