IPOH (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Karpal Singh had insisted on travelling at night by car to Penang so that he could prepare for a court case later in the day, said his son Gobind Singh Deo.

"I last met him at Pantai Hospital in Bangsar when I was there for treatment.

"We talked for quite awhile and he said many many things and said we will talk later about it," said Mr Gobind, who is Puchong MP.

Mr Karpal, a veteran politician and lawyer, died in a car accident early on Thursday. He was 73.

Mr Gobind said he got a call from his wife about the accident at about 2.15am on Thursday.

"She wanted to get confirmation and we later drove to Kampar.

"We've seen his body and that of Michael, his caretaker, who was seated behind him in the car," Mr Gobind said, adding that his brother, Ramkarpal, who was also in the car was slightly injured with the driver, C Selvam.

Mr Karpal's Indonesian domestic helper, however, is critically injured.

Mr Gobind said he would announce the date of Mr Karpal's funeral later.

"A lot of friends and family members from overseas want to come back and pay their last respects at the family home in Jalan Utama in Penang.

"We plan to hold it either on Saturday evening or Sunday morning to allow well-wishers to make their travelling arrangements," he said.

He said he understood the feelings of the people who wanted to know more about the accident but appealed to them to give the family the privacy and time to mourn.

"We will update the people later," he said.