The accident occured at Jalan Lapangan Terbang Sultan Ismail Petra, Taman Bendahara, about 11.30am.

The Ssangyong van was ferrying the students who were on their way home after shopping for Hari Raya clothes at a nearby supermarket.

The victim, identified as Wan Ahmad Izzat Alauddin, 12, died at the scene.

The victim’s mother, Wan Noor Azilah Wan Sulaiman, 48, who lives in Kampung Tapan, said she found out about the accident through the tahfiz centre’s WhatsApp group.

“When I arrived at the scene 20 minutes later, my heart sank when I saw my son’s head covered in blood,” she said when met by reporters at the Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital (HUSM) in Kubang Kerian.

Wan Noor Azilah had planned to take her only child to celebrate Aidilfitri at her grandmother’s village in Felda Ciku 7, Gua Musang.

She said her son was excited to go shopping for “baju raya” with his friends when he called her last night.

“I never thought that would be the last time I would talk to him,” she said, adding that her son would be buried at the Felda Ciku 7 Muslim cemetery.

Meanwhile, Pengkalan Chepa fire and rescue station chief Alam Nasut Ilias said the team arrived at the scene at 11.45am and found that one victim had died, while 11 other students and the van’s driver were injured.

All the injured victims were sent to the Raja Perempuan Zainab Hospital II for treatment, while the deceased’s remains were sent to HUSM for a post-mortem.