Nine-year-old girl run over by family car in mishap in Baling

Baling police chief Supt Shamsudin Mamat said in the 2.15 pm incident, the girl was said to be playing outside the house with her seven-year-old brother and had entered the car which was parked in front of the house.

"According to witnesses, the girl was seen playing in the driver's seat and was believed to have lowered the handbrake, causing the car to move backwards.

"The panicked girl got out of the car and ran towards the back and tried to stop it from moving but could not and was trapped," he said in a statement here today.

According to him, the mishap came to the attention of her 29-year-old uncle who was then preparing to go out from the house to work as an ambulance driver of a private company.

"Her uncle who heard his nephew's screams rushed out and found her under the car before pushing it forward and retrieved the girl but she was unconscious," he said.

Shamsudin said the girl's uncle then rushed her to the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital, Sungai Petani, but she was reported to have died on the way to the hospital.

He said the girl, who was a Year Three pupil at Sekolah Kebangsaan Tawar, Kuala Ketil lived with her family but during the incident, her father and grandmother were not at home and that she and her other siblings, aged seven to 15, were being taken care of by their uncle.

He said the girl's body was sent to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Alor Setar for post-mortem and that the case was classified as sudden death and was being investigated under Section 31 (1) of the Child Act 2001.

She is believed to have suffered internal bleeding and a fractured skull.

"I would like to advise the public, especially caregivers, to always be concerned and protect the safety of children well to avoid unwanted incidents," Shamsudin said.