Inquest to be held to certify death of rice seller

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi Monday announced that an inquest would be held over three days from tomorrow to certify the death of a rice seller in a freak storm in Jalan Macalister here, last Thursday.

He said the inquest was necessary for a death certificate to be issued by the National Registration Department on June 21 to the family of Lim Chin Aik, 44, who is feared to have been buried in a crater caused by the collapse of a lightning arrestor during the storm.

"The inquest will be headed by Penang Chief Police Officer Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi," he told reporters after a visit to the scene of the accident here.

Ahmad Zahid said the inquest would verify that the chassis number of the car in the crater matched that of Lim's. The death certificate would facilitate the insurance claim by the family.

The minister said the decision to hold the inquest was agreed to following discussions with the forensic consultant of the Penang Hospital, Datuk Dr Zahari Noor.

Ahmad Zahid said the federal government would work out aid for the family from the Social Welfare Department because Lim was the sole breadwinner.

The minister had a closed-door meeting with the family and apologised for having to stop the search-and-rescue operation as it was feared that further digging in the area would affect the structure of the heritage buildings there.

In the incident last Thursday, Lim was feared to have been buried after a search-and-rescue team found a grey Honda City car in a crater caused by the crash of a lightning arrestor.

Penang Police chief, Datuk Abdul Rahim confirmed that the chassis number of the buried car matched that of Lim's. Lim went missing on the day of the incident while on his way to fetch his daughter from school.

The freak storm also caused the death of an Indian national, Jahir Sulaiman, 46, after the lorry he was travelling in with fellow workers was hit by the 20-metre lightning arrestor which fell from the top of Menara UMNO.

Jahir, who was from Chennai, India, was confirmed dead upon arrival at the Penang Hospital. He leaves a wife, Siti Thaj Nisa, 42, and two daughters, Benazir, 19, and Femina, eight.

Meanwhile, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was present at the meeting with the family of Lim, expressed thanks to the rescue teams comprising personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department, the police, the Penang Island Municipal Council and workers of the contractor who had worked hard in the search-and-rescue effort.

He extended his apologies on behalf of the Penang government to those people who had experienced difficulty following the disruption in electricity and water supply and telephone services.

He said he expected these problems to be resolved in three days.