PERAK, 17 Apr: The Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor and famous lawyer, Karpal Singh, died in an accident hear Tapah around 1 this morning.
His assistant, Michael Cornandez, also died when the car they were in crashed into a lorry on their way north on the North-South Highway.
Karpal’s son, Ram Karpal, and the driver were reported injured.
The accident happened near kilometre 301.6 north-bound on the North-South Highway (PLUS).
Pictures taken of the accident site showed Karpal’s vehicle badly damaged.
A police spokesman informed Malaysiakini that the accident happened when the Toyota Alphard crashed into a lorry that changed lanes without signalling.
Meanwhile, the Selangor Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, through his twitter, described the incident as very sad and expressed his condolences to the deceased.
“Such sad news. The country lost a political leader and competent lawyer. Condolences to the family of the late Karpal Singh,” he said.
Karpal, 74, was paralysed and used a wheelchair after being involved in an accident in 2005.
The politician received his law degree from the University of Singapore and served as a lawyer before contesting for a parliamentary seat in 1978.
His long service as the previous MP of Jelutong and his fiery speeches in the Dewan Rakyat earned him the nickname ‘Tiger of Jelutong’.
Karpal resigned as the DAP Chairman recently after being found guilty of sedition.
