NSE crash: Forensic team using dental records to identify remaining bodies

TAIPING: The forensic team at the Taiping Hospital is using dental records to confirm the identities of three more Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah (USAS) students who were killed in a fatal crash on the North-South Expressway (NSE) northbound near Kuala Kangsar at midnight on Wednesday.

Kuala Kangsar district police chief ACP Omar Bakhtiar Yaacob said the team had to refer to the records as it was difficult to identify the victims due to the state of their remains.

"The next of kin have provided samples for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing which will be sent to the Department of Chemistry in Cheras for analysis.

"If there are similarities (between the dental remains and records), then their identities can be ascertained. If not, we have to use the DNA method," he said in a statement today.

Omar said the post-mortem on the three victims had been completed and was currently waiting for confirmation of dental records before the bodies could be taken home by the families for burial.

Two of the five victims have been identified by their family members via a post-mortem at Kuala Kangsar Hospital last night.

They were Ahmad Akmal Ahmad Mokhlis, 20, from Parit Buntar, Perak who was believed to be in the rear seat and Ahmad Naim Najmi Ahmad Hafizan, 21, from Kemaman, Terengganu who was seated in front.

The three other victims were believed to be Muhammad Nasrun Aidol Munir Akbar, 22, who was driving, Muhammad Nabil Haikal Muhammad Fariz, 19, and Iqbal Hasnun Halimi, 23, in the rear seat.

-- BERNAMA