5-year-old Malaysian girl narrowly escapes serious injury in car accident at a pet shop

MALAYSIA: Recently a closed-circuit television (CCTV) clip of a little girl getting hit by a reversing car went viral on social media.

In the video, a 5-year-old girl and another small boy were walking in front of a pet shop named Amycatz in Eco Grandeur, Puncak Alam, Selangor.

Several adults were also present in the area.

A yellow Hyundai Elantra parked in front of the pet shop abruptly reversed, striking the young girl, and then collided with the shop’s door.

Upon recognizing that the girl had been struck, a few nearby bystanders hurried to assist the child and tapped on the driver’s door to inform him to move his car forward.

Additionally, a woman was visibly shocked, clutching her head in horror as she witnessed the aftermath of the accident.

The child suffers minor injuries

According to a report from Harian Metro, the incident occurred on 5 Sept around 6.40 pm.

Kuala Selangor district deputy police chief Deputy Superintendent Mohd Ambia Nordin reported that the injured child was taken to Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Puncak Alam Hospital for further treatment.

The victim was reported to have suffered minor injuries and scratches to her face.

She was in stable condition before being discharged from the hospital at 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday (6 Sept), as reported by Malaysia news outlet Harian Metro.

CCTV footage reveals heart-stopping close-call moment

The owner of Amycatz Pet Shop took to Facebook to share some images and videos captured during and after the incident.

The video showed the front area of the premises filled with cat litter sand and served as a temporary resting place for a cat.

The incident did not result in any human casualties among the customers of the shop, but one cat was thrown during the collision.

“There were no fatalities, including the cat (Oreo just got thrown). ”

Furthermore, the pet shop owner explained that all parties involved, including the car driver, the victim’s family, and herself, had filed a police report and resolved the matter amicably.

The pet shop owner further stated, “As the owner of AMYCATZ, I hope there are no further speculations.”

Driver not detained after providing a statement

Following the incident, the involved driver provided a statement to the police.

The investigation revealed that the male driver in his 30s was on his way to pick up his child from kindergarten.

According to a report by Majoriti, an individual involved explained that the driver had forgotten to shift gears and accidentally pressed the accelerator as he exited the vehicle.

“The driver said that they had engaged the handbrake but didn’t realize that the gear was still in reverse because they had parked in reverse,” said the individual.

According to Deputy Superintendent Ambia Nordin, no detention was made, and this case will be investigated under Section 43 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.

A brief video that elicits both anger and a sense of relief

Netizens in the comment sections expressed their relief that the young girl did not suffer any significant injuries, and they were thankful that everyone involved in the accident emerged unharmed.

Some commenters shared their strong emotional reactions, stating that they felt anger and chills while watching the viral video.

Netizens also commended and expressed gratitude to the woman who acted swiftly to pick up the little girl after she was hit by the car.

Moments later, several bags of cat litter sand fell from an elevated location, landing right where the child had been sitting.

Incidents of a similar nature occurred recently

This certainly isn’t the first instance of a car reversing rapidly and colliding with pedestrians or individuals nearby.

On 27 Aug, a 16-year-old Malaysian boy accidentally reversed a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) into a food court in Tanjung Kling, Melaka, and hit a total of 13 customers, including small children.

The situation unfolded as their MPV, a Toyota Avanza, initially collided with a neighboring parked car before plowing into diners within the food court area.