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A 17-year-old contract worker survived a 70-metre plunge into the sea after he was flung out of the vehicle he was in. That vehicle had slammed into a guard rail and was struck by a lorry in the middle of the Penang Bridge on Sunday night.
Two of his teenage friends, who were married recently, died in the crash.
Lee Chun Hao, who was warded at the Penang Hospital, said he swam against strong currents to a bridge pillar and clung onto it for about two hours before he was rescued by marine police at about 12.30am Monday.
He said: 'I cannot remember what happened. I think I became unconscious when we were tossed around inside the car.'
Lee said he did not know how he was flung out of the car and into the sea.
'But after I hit the water, I remember struggling to stay afloat and gasping for air. The only thing I thought of was to stay alive.
"When I saw a boat heading towards me, I cried for help and the marine police pulled me onto the boat. I was exhausted by then,' said Lee who sustained minor cuts on his head, face and hands.
Lee was with four other friends in a Multi-Purpose Vehicle travelling towards Penang island when the vehicle skidded and hit a guard rail at Km2.2 of the Penang Bridge at about 11.30pm.
The two teenagers who died were car accessories salesman Teh Boh Yi, 19, and shop assistant Khor Lee Mui, 17, who got married just eight months ago.
Khor had given birth to a baby girl barely two months ago.
Teh, who was driving the MPV, died at 12.50am Monday while Khor, who sat beside him, died 10 minutes later.
They suffered head injuries.
The other two passengers were identified as Chiam Chee Wei, 17, and Teh Bee Bee, 20.
Chiam, who also sustained head injuries, was in critical condition in the intensive care unit while Bee Bee suffered a broken right leg.
Penang Traffic Operations chief Deputy Supt Abdul Rahim Md. Din said Teh was believed to be driving Chiam's vehicle from Butterworth to Penang when he tried to switch lanes, from the left to the middle lane, when he lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle hit the railing and spun, before crashing into a lorry laden with vegetables.
Khor's mother H'ng Cheng Gim, 42, was inconsolable when met at the mortuary Monday.
Khor's elder sister Liew Kim, 22, said: 'I had just finished giving her and my brother-in-law hair cuts. I even helped him dye his hair. They looked just perfect with the new hairstyles.
'They were planning to stay at our house in Tanah Liat in Bukit Mertajam when their friends rang them for a night out in an entertainment outlet at Upper Penang Road at about 9pm."
Another relative said the couple left RM50 for H'ng and reminded her to buy diapers for their daughter.
'We thought it was an unusual request,' he said.
