GEORGE TOWN: The death toll from last week's North-South Expressway crash that saw several escapees from an Immigration temporary detention depot in Kedah killed increased to seven yesterday.
This was as a 14-year-old girl who was seriously injured in the crash succumbed to her injuries at the Seberang Jaya Hospital.
State police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain confirmed the victim's death, adding that another victim, a 21-year-old man, was still being treated at the same hospital.
"Investigations into the incident are ongoing. We have recorded statements from several witnesses to assist investigation into the crash," he said after the launch of the state-level Op Selamat at the Bayan Baru Ramadan bazaar here this afternoon.
About 4.30am last Wednesday, 528 Rohingya detainees broke out from the detention centre in Bandar Baharu after staging a protest.
Local villagers managed to recapture 88 of them before surrendering them to the Immigration Department.
Subsequently, Penang police managed to rearrest 229 of them at Km168 of the NSE.
In their haste to flee, a group of Rohingya attempted to rush across the NSE, and a passing vehicle rammed into them, leading to six being killed and several injured.
The dead were two men aged 20 and 36, two women aged 14 and 18, a 9-year-old boy and a girl, 8.
Meanwhile, Shuhaily said police are still on the hunt for another 61 Rohingya detainees who fled, with the latest two arrests made in the state on Monday.
Asked if that meant the detainees may have fled from Penang, Shuhaily said there was a possibility as the borders of the neighbouring states were nearby.
"What I am concerned about is the possibility that the Rohingya detainees may have assimilated with the locals.
"It has been one week after their escape and they may have gotten help in terms of food, which is why they are able to resist being arrested," he added.