Student who allegedly bashed up ambulance driver remanded

A student was among three "mat rempit" who have been remanded to facilitate investigations into the assault of an ambulance driver by a group of youths near the Taiping Utara toll plaza along the North-South Expressway on Sunday.

Taiping district police acting chief Supt Razlam Ab Hamid said families of the three suspects brought and surrendered them to the district police headquarters last night.

“Police are tracking down the other suspects,” he said in a statement today.

The remand order on the trio aged between 17 and 20 was issued by Taiping Magistrate’s Court assistant registrar Noraishah Ahmad.

In the incident on Sunday at 1.40 am, as reported by the media, an ambulance driver aged 53, sustained injuries after being punched by a group of motorcyclists who were allegedly involved in illegal racing.

A nurse who was in the vehicle with the patient tried to intervene but was also struck.

The driver who declined to be named said he was sending a patient from Parit Buntar Hospital to Taiping Hospital with a medical assistant and a nurse.

Upon reaching the traffic light junction near the toll plaza, he saw a group of motorcyclists whom he believed were racing.

"As they might pose a danger for the ambulance, I used a hailer to warn them to give way to us. But they became angry instead and started sandwiching the ambulance. One of them fell and they became angrier and obstructed our path,” he said.

He said as soon as the ambulance stopped, four to six of the youths opened the door of the vehicle, dragged him out and started punching and hitting him repeatedly.

-- Bernama