Kuala Krai mishap: 'No one expected the incident to happen' - Tahfiz school principal

Tahfiz Al-Hashimi school principal, Mohammad Azam Omizi hoped the incident that involved his students should serve as warning to all tahfiz schools in the country is paramount and the safekeeping of students should be prioritised.

Mohammad Azam said the teachers and the 63 students studying in the tahfiz is close to each other.

Prior to the incident, he said that he had met with the two preachers, who survived the incident.

"I've met a teacher in Kuala Krai Hospital and one at the Machang Hospital. They do not tell much. Just apologize and ask for prayers so that the others were all safe," he said, when contacted by Astro AWANI here today.

In the 9.40am accident on Friday, a van carrying 14 students skidded into a ditch and rammed into a house in Kampung Telekong in Kuala Krai, Kelantan.

Seven students were killed and seven others sustained injuries.

Five victims were trapped inside the mangled van while passers-by helped nine others out of the vehicle.

Two fire engines from Kuala Krai and Machang were dispatched to the site to extricate those trapped.

A Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said five people were believed to have died on the spot while two more students were injured.

It is learnt that the group from Maahad Tahfiz Al-Hashimi were travelling from Kuala Krai to Kota Baru to attend a religious programme at Madinah Ramadan when the accident occurred.