BUKIT MERTAJAM (Penang) • A 21-year-old hairstylist who allegedly crashed his car into a sport utility vehicle (SUV) on the Penang Bridge that sent it plunging into the sea has surrendered to the police, a Penang police officer said yesterday.
Central Seberang Prai police chief Nik Ros Azhan Nik Abdul Hamid said the young man, who lives in Taman Inderawasih on mainland Penang, turned himself in at 2am yesterday.
The man, who sustained injuries in the incident, was initially warded at the Seberang Jaya Hospital. He then sought further treatment at a private hospital on the island.
"He was accompanied by family members to the police station.
"He was subsequently arrested and is now in the lock-up to assist in investigations," Assistant Commissioner (AC) of Police Nik Ros said.
The man is currently detained at the district police headquarters in Bandar Perda.
A three-hour post-mortem examination conducted on the 20-year-old SUV driver Moey Yun Peng, who was found in the submerged SUV, revealed the cause of death as "drowning in an individual involved in a road traffic collision".
The case is now classified under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for reckless driving and causing death, AC Nik Ros said. The case was initially investigated under Section 42(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for reckless driving.
"Police have so far recorded 15 statements over the case from various parties," he added, saying the suspect will be released later on police bail.
On Sunday at about 3am, Mr Moey was driving across the bridge to Butterworth from Penang island in the SUV when a black sedan slammed into his rear left flank at high speed, causing his car to spin and flip over the bridge's parapet.
Police have determined that Mr Moey and the driver of the black sedan were friends who had earlier attended another friend's birthday party at a club in Chulia Street in George Town.
Rescuers on Tuesday retrieved the white SUV from under the bridge in a 20-minute operation.
The badly mangled car was hoisted using four cables attached to a crane yesterday evening.
The operation took about 20 minutes.
THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
