BUKIT MERTAJAM (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A 21-year-old hairstylist who allegedly crashed his car into a sports utility vehicle (SUV) on the Penang Bridge that sent it plunging into the sea has surrendered to the police, a Penang police officer said on Wednesday (Jan 23).

Central Seberang Prai police chief Nik Ros Azhan Nik Abdul Hamid said the man, who lives in Taman Inderawasih on mainland Penang, turned himself in at 2am on Wednesday.

The man is currently detained at the district police headquarters in Bandar Perda.

A three-hour postmortem 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, he 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," said Assistant Commissioner of Police Nik Ros, adding that the suspect will be released later on police bail.

On Sunday at about 3am, 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 Moey and the driver of the black sedan were friends who earlier attended another friend's birthday party at a club in Chulia Street in George Town.