‘I didn’t expect someone to die’

JOHOR BARU: “I thought it was just a fight. I didn’t expect someone to die,” said a petrol station employee, who witnessed a murder at the Taman Pelangi petrol station on Sunday night.

The man, who wished to be known only as Ismail, 53, said at the time of the incident, he was on duty when he heard a woman screaming in Mandarin. This, he said, was followed by a loud bang, which sounded like a gunshot.

He then saw a white BMW run over a man twice.

Ismail said the vehicle then sped towards Jalan Serampang.

“I thought it was just a normal fight. I didn’t think there would be killing involved. I didn’t expect such violence to take place.”

A worker from a restaurant across the street said she and other customers were stunned by the incident.

She said many initially thought that an accident had occurred.

“I was serving tea to customers when I heard something exploding at the petrol station,” said the worker, who wanted to be known only as Wanda.

“I thought there was an accident because the T-junction is an accident hotspot.

“Moments later, I saw a man getting into the white car before fleeing the scene.”

State police chief Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said the explosion was most likely from firecrackers that were thrown by one of the assailants.

He said police had yet to make any arrests.

He cautioned the public against sharing unverified information on the incident.