Parents' plea to public to stop viralling blame over cycling tragedy

"It's enough. I hope the public will stop blaming the parents and victims," said Fatimah Nasir, mother of one of the victims of the cycling tragedy at the Middle Ring Road, here, yesterday.

Fatimah said all parents loved and cared for their children, adding that the victims were not neglected teenagers as claimed by the public.

"They (the public) do not know how we feel. Although I am powerless from stopping them from making viral the accusations, I plead for it to stop," she told reporters on the public blaming the parents and victims for the incident which has gone viral on the social media.

Earlier, Fatimah, 43, received a visit from State Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman, Asiah Md Ariff, who also made a contribution to the family in Taman Sinaran Kempas, here, today.

According to Fatimah, Mohammad Azrie Danish Zulkefli was a good son who helped her make Malay "kuih" and took care of his siblings.

"I never expected that my son's (Mohammad Azrie Danish) enquiry on the post-mortem procedure of accident victims would be our final conversation together," she said, her voice breaking.

The mother of five who works in a private firm, said before her son went out at 9pm, the second of five siblings had asked her permission to meet up with his friends at his bicycle club, located about 100 metres from their house.

"My son had mentioned that it would be their 'final lap'. However, I did not understand what he meant by it," she recalled.

Meanwhile, the boy's father, Zulkefli Sarkam, also asked for the public to pray for his son instead of pointing the blame finger at them.

Zulkefli, 43, said the family only knew of the incident around 6am yesterday and rushed to the nearest police station to lodge a report.

"I saw the car that hit my son at the police station yesterday. If it's true that the car was not speeding, it would not be as badly damaged as though it had crashed into a bus or a heavy vehicle," he commented.

Zulkefli who works as an assistant at his family's shop, said the family had wanted to send the late Mohammad Azrie Danish to a tahfiz school in Kedah next year.

Eight teenagers who were cycling lost their lives in the 3am incident yesterday when they were mowed down by a car driven by a 22-year-old woman.

Eight other teenagers sustained injuries, with two of them in the intensive care unit of Sultanah Aminah Hospital, while the other six are being treated at the same hospital. - BERNAMA