KUALA LUMPUR: The country was not spared tragedies and disasters, including freak accidents, landslides and plane crashes this year.

No matter how bad they were, they should serve as a deterrent for all quarters to ensure that they would not recur. There is no doubt that there are valuable lessons to be learnt from the tragedies, especially when the lives of innocent people are involved.

For one, for things to change, members of the public need to change their attitude first. If everyone takes precautionary and preventive measures to avoid tragedies, maybe the country will not have so much entries on its sad-ending story book for the year.

Top on the list of this year's tragedies was where 70 people were killed in the numerous road accidents reported nationwide during the 19th Ops Sikap in January.

On Feb 2, a bus driver was also killed while 23 schoolchildren escaped unhurt when the bus they were travelling in plunged into a river in Jalan Masjid in Penang.

On March 18, two newly-wed grooms were killed in separate road accidents in Kangar, Perlis and Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, while on May 28, four Indonesian nationals were buried alive when the Jaya Supermarket in Section 14, Petaling Jaya, Selangor collapsed.

Failure of an essential equipment to work properly had also contributed to the disaster death toll this year.

On June 11, an army commando, Corporal Amin Che Ros, was killed when his parachute failed to open during a jump in a training exercise in Kampung Padang Meiha, Sungai Karangan, Kulim, Kedah.

However, only God knows the cause of death of Teoh Beng Hock, 30, who was the political secretary to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah. He was found dead on the fifth floor corridor of Plaza Masalam on July 16, after giving a statement in an investigation into alleged abuse of state government funds.

Tragedies also happened at the workplace. On Aug 11, six men, comprising four locals and two Bangladeshis, died after inhaling ammonia gas believed to have leaked from a refrigerator at Kampung Bagan Pasir in Tanjung Karang, Selangor.

In Alor Setar, Kedah, two pilots were killed when a light aircraft crashed as it was coming in to land at the international airport on Langkawi island on Sept 11.

October marked the saddest month in the country's calendar as fatal accidents occurred one after another.

On Oct 7, a bus driver was killed, while eight of the bus passengers were severely injured, when it crashed into the back of a trailer at Km305 of the North-South Expressway in Kampar, Perak.

The following day, the Royal Malaysian Navy's largest vessel, KD Inderapura, caught fire while docking at the naval base in Lumut, Perak.

On Oct 15, two people including an infant were killed, while two others sustained serious injuries when the car they were travelling in met with an accident at KM237.7 of the East Coast expressway in Kuantan, Pahang.

Also fresh in the memory is the Kuala Dipang bridge tragedy on Oct 26 which claimed the lives of three schoolchildren. The children, M. Devatharshini, 11, V. Divyashree, 12, and N. Dinadevi, 11, drowned in the Kampar River after they fell into it when the suspension bridge collapsed as they were crossing it together with scores of other pupils attending a camping programme nearby.

The monsoon season also spelled tragedies for the low-lying areas especially in Kelantan and Terengganu.

Mohd Mazlan Yajid, 28, become the first flood victim in Kelantan when he drowned while bathing in the river in Pasir Puteh on Nov 6, while a nine-year-old girl also drowned in Sungai Terengganu at Kampung Getang,
Telemong, Hulu Terengganu, on Nov 7.

If one felt that car accidents only occurred on the road, the freak tragedy at the KB Mall shopping complex proved otherwise.

On Dec 6, two nursing students were crushed to death when a car plunged from the mall's third-floor car park and fell into the shopping concourse.

Who would have known that such an accident would occur? Yet, by being wary and always ensure that all preventive measures are taken,  the number of untoward incidents, could possibly be reduced.