KLANG — A family of five in Malaysia was forced to seek refuge in a fast food restaurant after a mob began surrounding them following a road accident with a motorcyclist.

Ms Tramy Leong and her family were driving back from a visit to the temple on Saturday (Feb 24) night when they crashed into a motorcyclist who had allegedly ran a red light, Malaysian Chinese-language daily China Press reported.

Ms Leong said she called emergency services immediately and an ambulance arrived to transport the motorcyclist to the hospital in less than 10 minutes.

The family then decided to move their vehicle from the middle of the road and drove to the nearest petrol station along Jalan Kapar in Klang with the intention of lodging a police report on the accident there.

However, Ms Leong was shocked to see dozens of people begin to form around them. Feeling threatened, the family then entered a McDonald’s outlet at the petrol station to seek refuge while waiting for the police to arrive.

As the mob grew larger, Ms Leong began livestreaming the harrowing experience on her Facebook account. She expressed her disbelief and fear of the situation, adding that she had a toddler with her.

“Who can come and save us?” Ms Leong pleaded to her viewers, according to social news site WeirdKaya.

The mother-of-two stressed that her family had no intention of committing a hit-and-run and had proof of the accident on their dashcam. 

‘NOT THAT SERIOUS’

According to Sin Chew Daily, Ms Leong and her family contacted the police four times but were asked to go to the station to report the case in person.

When they explained that they were unable to do so because they were trapped by the crowd, police officers allegedly accessed closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the location to check on the situation.

The officers then reportedly told Ms Leong that the situation was “not that serious” as there were only 20 people and the family was not physically harmed.

“I was so surprised by their response as what I am seeing is around 50 people out there,” Ms Leong claimed during her livestream.

She added that the mob also tried to seize her dashcam but she managed to stop them when she explained that she would hand over footage of the accident to the police when they arrived.

The entire ordeal lasted for about half an hour before police patrol cars arrived to escort Ms Leong and her children safely home. Ms Leong’s husband was brought to Kapar police station to lodge a report.

A recording of the livestream was no longer available on Ms Leong’s account at the time of writing.

Following the incident, Ms Leong posted a few updates on Facebook to share that her family is fine and thanked her followers for their concern. Ms Leong also thanked the manager of the McDonald’s outlet for locking the door of the restaurant to help keep the crowd out.

Online users flooded the comments section to express relief that Ms Leong and her family were safe.

A handful of netizens, however, argued that the crowd did not seem hostile and appeared to be curious as to what was going on. Some people opined that Ms Leong and her family should have remained at the accident site and made a police report on the spot to avoid such a situation. 

A number of users shared similar experiences of being intimidated by a mob at the scene of road accidents they were involved in. 

Others lamented the actions of such “lawless” vigilantes who have a tendency of becoming violent without first understanding the circumstances of the accidents.

Just days earlier on Feb 21, five men were arrested for allegedly beating a driver to death in Kajang in Selangor.

Initial investigations revealed that the victim was chased by the group of motorcyclists after his car crashed into a motorcycle at a different location. Police believe the victim was pulled out of his car, had his hands tied and was subsequently assaulted, Free Malaysia Today reported.

In March last year, a lorry driver was beaten up by several other motorists after his truck was involved in a fatal accident with a motorcycle in Klang.

The 36-year-old man suffered multiple injuries including injuries to his cheek and a swollen eye and was taken to hospital. The windshield of the man’s truck was also smashed by the group, Malaysian English-language media The Star reported.