Elmina plane crash: Malaysian kindergarten teacher’s swift action saves two of her students

MALAYSIA: A kindergarten teacher’s quick action overtaking a vehicle in front of her, saved her and her students from becoming victims of the plane crash tragedy in Elmina, Shah Alam, Selangor.

Masikah Ta’ibah Zakaria, 25, said that she and her two students were passing through Elmina just moments before the plane crash incident occurred.

According to Masikah, she was on her way to drop off her two students, who are siblings, at their home after school.

“As usual, from the kindergarten in Denai Alam, I was passing through that area to Subang Bestari to drop off the two siblings at their home.

“Actually, before the plane crashed, I had already noticed before the Elmina bridge that the plane seemed to be preparing to ‘land,’ so I didn’t think much of it until I became anxious when I heard the sound of the plane engines very loudly and close to the car.”

“At that time, I was only thinking about saving myself and my students in the back seats, so I stepped on the pedal to drive faster and a few moments later, I saw through the side mirror that there was an explosion behind us,” she said when contacted by Harian Metro.

Masikah added, she had a fever due to still being shocked by the incident that nearly claimed their lives.

She also never expected that she had overtaken the car of the e-hailing driver, the late Sharipuddin.

Meanwhile, the mother of the two siblings, who wished to be identified as Lily, said she immediately performed a gesture of thanksgiving as soon as she received the news that her children, Maliq Adam Malik Faisal and Maliq Farhan, aged six and four respectively, were safe from the accident that occurred last Thursday afternoon (17 Aug).

“I had just finished praying when the kindergarten staff contacted me, asking about the condition of my two children before informing me that the car driven by their teacher was safe from the accident,” she said.

Lily mentioned that the two siblings find it difficult to express their feelings after the incident, as Maliq Adam has autism and Maliq Farhan has a speech delay issue.

“I don’t know if they’re traumatized or not, but what’s certain is that they witnessed the accident happening behind them because both of them tried to talk to me about the fire and ‘boom’ sound,” she said.

Lily once again expressed her gratitude toward Masikah for saving her children.