Warisan leader killed in freak accident
SANDAKAN: A Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) division leader was killed when a vehicle crashed into him at a restaurant in Bandar Utama IJH, Batu 6, here, yesterday.
Libaran division Warisan chief Aris Malayu was having a drink at the restaurant when the 9.30am incident occurred. He sustained serious injuries and died on the scene.
Sabah police commissioner Datuk Ramli Din said the victim was with friends when a Honda CRV, driven by a 61-year-old woman, rammed into them.
“It is learnt that the driver wanted to park her vehicle in front of the restaurant. She was believed to have hit the accelerator instead of the brakes, causing the car to jolt forward and crash into the victim, whose table was in front of the vehicle.”
It was learnt that Aris was pinned between the car and a pole inside the restaurant.
Footage of the incident, believed to have been obtained from closed-circuit television cameras, has gone viral.
False news is also circulating that the deceased is Warisan’s Libaran parliament candidate, Irwanshah Mustapha.
Ramli urged people not to make any speculation, adding that the police had detained the driver to assist in investigation.
The victim’s brother, Sudin Malayu, 52, said Aris had been caught up in campaigning for the election, adding that his family accepted his death as fate.
Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal extended his condolences to Aris’s family and advised supporters not to make assumptions.
Aris was the proposer for Asmara Abdul Rahman, Warisan’s candidate for the Sungai Sibuga state seat, during nomination day at Dewan Serbaguna Libaran here on April 28.