Family holiday turns into tragedy

BUTTERWORTH: A family holiday turned tragic for Neoh Yee Ling, 33, who lost four family members and is missing a relative after a bomb blast rocked Bangkok on Monday night.
She lost her husband, Lee Chee Siang, 35, her mother, Lim Saw Gek, 49, her younger brother Neoh Jai Jun, 20, and her four-year-old daughter, Lee Jing Sian, in the horrific attack while her aunt, Lim Su See, 52, is still missing.
When met at Neoh’s home here, family friend Visen Lim said Yee Ling had sent a text message to her sister, Hui Sin, after the incident to say only she and their father, Neoh Hock Guan, 55, survived the blast.
He said Hock Guan suffered light injuries in the back and right arm following the incident but has since received medical treatment.
He said Hui Sin had left for Bangkok early Tuesday morning to meet her sister and father.
He said the family had planned to stay in Bangkok for some four days and to travel around by train.
“The plans were to travel during this time as Jai Jun is back for his holidays from Taiwan,” he told reporters.
Visen said Yee Ling was the eldest sister in her family while her two surviving siblings, Hui Sin and brother Neoh Kah Lun, 31, did not join the trip.
He said the family was now in grief and did not want to break the news to Yee Ling’s 71-year-old grandmother.
“They are afraid she cannot accept what happened,” he added of the family who is known in Butterworth for selling traditional confectionery.
Wisma Putra had earlier confirmed the deaths of Saw Gek and Jai Jun following the blast at the Erawan shrine which is popular with devotees.
The blast resulted in the deaths of 22 persons, including nine from several countries in the region, as well as injuring more than 100 at the site.
Of the wounded, Thais made up the largest number with 42, followed by 28 Chinese.
Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Oman, the Philippines and Singapore all had one or more nationals wounded.
Thai authorities have since identified a suspect after scouring through closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings and are now on a manhunt for him.