Mother of man missing in Umno HQ collapse wants DEATH CERTIFICATE

GEORGE TOWN— Over 44 years ago, Ang Kim Looi applied for a birth certificate for her then newborn son Lim Chin Aik.

Today, the 70-year-old pleaded for his death certificate to be issued so that she could have closure.

The elderly woman, who could barely contain her tears, told the coroner’s court today during the second day of an inquest to ascertain Lim’s death that she needed the court to help her get the death certificate for her son.

“I was the one to apply for his birth certificate when he was born, now all I want is for the court to help me to get his death certificate so that we can finally settle the documentations,” she said.

“My heart still aches over losing him,” she added, after conducting officer Lim Cheah Yit asked her if she had anything else to tell the court.

Ang was testifying in an inquest to ascertain the death of her son who was believed to be buried in Macalister Road after his car was hit by a falling concrete beam during a freak storm on June 13.

In the storm, the lightning arrester of Umno building along the road crashed to the road below, burying Lim’s car underneath and damaging seven other vehicles.

Efforts to recover his body were called off after four days of digging due to concerns that further digging could affect the surrounding buildings so Lim’s body was never recovered.

Only parts of his Honda City were recovered from the crater and the chassis number was matched to that of Lim’s.

The inquest was ordered to ascertain the death of Lim as his body was not recovered and a death certificate could not be issued without proof of his death.

Ang also said she was “very certain” that her son had died in the incident as he had always used the road to pick up his daughter from school in Pulau Tikus.

“I went to the site of the incident and I can recognise the car door and tyre rims that was dug out from the crater as that of my son’s car,” she said.

She also told the court that Lim’s body was never recovered and that she never saw him again after June 13.

Earlier, the court had called in Lim’s son, Lim Chia Yang, state meteorological department director Loh Eng Kee and Penang Island Municipal Council building department director Yew Tung Seang to give their testimonies.

Chia Yang confirmed that the chassis number of the car engine found in the crater matched that of his father’s car and said that based on this, he believed that his father had died and was buried in the crater following the incident.

Loh and Yew had their testimonies postponed to the afternoon as relevant documentations used as reference needed to be prepared.

The five-day inquest continues in the afternoon and so far seven out of 31 witnesses had testified before coroner Khairul Anuar Abd Halim.

Gobind Singh Deo is holding a watching brief on behalf of Lim’s family.

-themalaymailonline.com