3 siblings killed in Malaysia crash after insisting on going to haze-closed school

A boy and his sister lost their lives in a road accident after they wanted to attend classes despite their school being closed due to the haze in Malaysia’s Johor state.

Their elder brother, who took them on his motorcycle to check out the school for themselves, was killed as well.

The three siblings – Nordaniel Aiman Norlizan, 18, Nordaniel Fikri Norlizan, 11, and Puteri Naufa Raisha Norlizan, eight – were found by their grandfather, lying motionless at the scene of the accident in Pontian.

Their aunt, Norimah Khamis, 40, said the siblings were earlier told by their mother and grandmother that school was closed on Thursday due to the haze.

“But Nordaniel Fikri, who loved going to school and rarely skipped classes even when he was not feeling well, insisted on going,” Norimah said.

“Then, his sister wanted to follow as well. So, their elder brother took them on his motorcycle to check out the school for themselves,” she said.

“No one expected the journey to school would cut their lives tragically short all at once.”

She described the three of them, who had three other siblings, as “good children”.

“They don’t talk much. They were shy, especially Puteri Naufa Raisha, who was the only girl among the siblings,” she said.

“She still had her pocket money for school in her baju kurung (a traditional Malay attire) pocket. Her uniform was very clean when they found her at the scene,” she said.

“Their mother also told me that she had just bought new shoes for Nordaniel Fikri, who loved football. And Nordaniel Aiman was in the midst of applying for GiatMara (vocational training).”

The children’s father, daily wage labourer Norlizan Khamis Norlizan, said he received a devastating call from his father-in-law about the fate of his three children while he was at work.

“My father-in-law had gone around on his motorcycle looking for them because he was worried as they had yet to return home after leaving the house in the morning,” he told reporters at Pontian Hospital on Thursday.

“He later found them lying motionless at the scene of the accident and almost fainted when he saw the condition they were in.

“The whole family is still in shock. I did not expect that this morning would be the last time I saw them alive,” he said.

The father of six described the children as kind, soft-spoken and well-behaved students who barely caused trouble to the family.

“They were very close and were always there for each other,” he said.

The three children were laid to rest at the Kampung Parit Haji Sirat cemetery after an autopsy on Thursday.

Johor education and information committee chairman Dr Muhammad Naqib Md Ghazali said counselling sessions had been arranged for the family, while the state government would provide financial aid and help with the funeral arrangements.

“The family and school have confirmed that the mother knew about the closure, but the children were eager to go to school,” he said after visiting the family in Pontian.

“We were told that the accident happened about 200 metres from their home while they were on their way back from school.

“The cause of the accident is under investigation. We will leave this to the police,” he said.

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What’s behind Indonesia’s decades-long wildfire problem?

Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has contacted Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto about efforts to tackle the thick smog that has choked Kuala Lumpur and other parts of the country as weeks of devastating wildfires consume swathes of the neighbouring archipelago.

Air quality in the capital was in the “very unhealthy” range as of Thursday afternoon, according to data from IQAir, and ranked as the most polluted city in the world.

Johor closed schools through the end of the week, affecting about 617,000 students, according to the state education ministry.

“The haze situation is indeed worrying,” Anwar told reporters, according to state-owned news agency Bernama. He said Prabowo had “agreed to take the necessary steps”, without providing detail.

Parts of Southeast Asia have been blanketed in thick fumes for over a month as Indonesia endures one of its worst wildfire seasons in years. The blazes are linked to the long-running use of slash-and-burn farming practices, exacerbated by a powerful El Nino that has brought dry conditions to the region.

Malaysia is seeking expedited talks with Indonesia to send a team to help extinguish the fires. Anwar said the government was also seeking to arrange a meeting of regional environment ministers, though it had already taken steps to reduce the impact at home, including increasing cloud seeding.