S’porean boy, 9, who died in car crash to be buried in Melbourne

SINGAPORE: The nine—year—old Singaporean boy who was killed on Monday in a horrific road crash in Australia will be laid to rest in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Funeral rites will be conducted at the Preston mosque and he will be buried at the Fawkner cemetery.

He was with five other family members in a van when they met with the accident, which occurred near the town of Seymour along the Hume Freeway on Monday morning just after 7.00am local time.

Fawzi Aman, 47, and his wife Zuliza Suri, 44, together with four of their children aged between 9 and 15 were believed to be on a holiday and were travelling from Sydney to Melbourne to visit a family friend.

Mr Fawzi and Ms Zuliza were admitted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital. A spokesperson from the hospital said Mr Fawzi is in stable condition and his wife has since been discharged. The Muslim community in Melbourne have rallied together to give support to the victims.

Rahimah Mohamed, a friend of the boy, said that of the three surviving children, the eldest has been discharged from intensive care, the second eldest is alright and the third is still under sedation.

"At the moment they (the parents) are feeling very sad because the small one, the nine—year—old is going to be buried tomorrow," Rahimah said.

Victoria police say investigations on how the accident happened are on—going. The van carrying the family is believed to have veered off the road and rolled over several times before hitting into a tree.

Police are not ruling out fatigue as a possible cause.

— CNA/wm