(CORRECTING YMCA TO YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION)

MALAYSIAN JOURNALIST INJURED IN DELHI ROAD ACCIDENT

By P.Vijian

NEW DELHI, May 11 (Bernama) -- A Malaysian journalist and her sister who
returning from the holy city of Varanasi were injured Sunday night after the
airport taxi ferrying them to their hotel here collided with an oncoming
vehicle.

Kalbana Perimbanayagam, 26, of the New Straits Times Crime Desk, who
fractured her right leg and suffered injuries in her left eye, was admitted to
the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

Her sister, Thashanaa, 33, had a fractured right leg and facial injuries and
was admitted to the City Hospital. The accident happened at about 7pm (local
time).

The couple from the other car, which collided with the taxi, also suffered
injuries and had been admitted to a nearby military hospital.

"He (driver) was driving recklessly and hit the other car near the traffic
lights. The two passengers were also injured. But our driver ran away from the
scene.

"Luckily the local people were very helpful and they pulled us out of the
taxi. The car was completely damaged," Kalbana told Bernama from her hospital
bed.

Kalbana and her other four family members arrived in Delhi on May 7 and
headed to Varanasi the following day to conduct prayers for her late father and
returned to Delhi Sunday.


They planned to return to Kuala Lumpur on May 13.

"My father passed away in February this year and we brought some of his
ashes to Varanasi to do the prayers. On Sunday we returned to Delhi by flight
and wanted to celebrate Mother's day.

"We were in two cars heading to the YMCA (Young Men's Christian
Association) hostel and this terrible thing happened. I just want to go home
now," lamented Kalbana.

The driver is still at large and the Malaysian High Commission in Delhi is
helping the family and making attempts through the Delhi police to trace the
driver.

-- BERNAMA