Tragic turn: Father receives daughter's death certificate in place of degree after UPSI bus crash

JERTIH, June 13 — Nearly a year ago, Mohamad Isma Abdul Manaf sent off his eldest daughter, Nur Dalila Farhana, to pursue her university education, dreaming of the day she would return home with a degree in hand.

Instead, today, the 47-year-old father was handed her death certificate.

Nur Dalila Farhana, 21, was among the 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students who tragically lost their lives in a bus crash along the East-West Highway in Gerik, Perak, on Monday.

“It broke my heart to see my daughter’s name on a death certificate. No parent should ever have to go through this. But this is our fate, and I must accept it and remain strong,” he told Bernama after receiving the certificate from Terengganu National Registration Department (NRD) director Mohamad Nasir Kareem at the family’s home in Kampung Bharu Tok Dhor.

Mohamad Isma said having the death certificate would help him and his wife, Norinda Kasim, 49, to manage necessary affairs, including insurance claims and related matters.

The accident occurred when a chartered bus traveling from Jertih to UPSI’s main campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak, collided with a Perodua Alza before overturning. The crash left 33 others injured, including the bus driver and assistant, as well as the driver and three passengers in the Alza.

Meanwhile, Mohamad Nasir said that eight death certificates were personally delivered to the next of kin at their homes, while five families collected the documents at NRD counters. Two cases are still being processed.

“This is an initiative by the NRD to help ease the families’ burden by handling the death registration process on their behalf, without requiring them to go to the NRD offices in Besut or Setiu,” he said. — Bernama