TALK about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A black Proton Iswara carrying five people ? three men and two women ? was speeding along Jalan Loke Yew in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday at about 4am when it was confronted by a large crowd, reported the Malaysian media.

Annoyed by the road block, the driver honked at the crowd. What he did not realise was that the people were helping victims of an earlier accident involving four motorcycles and two cars in which one man was killed.

Angry, the crowd turned on the driver and his passengers. Witnesses said the mob acted like barbarians, senselessly beating up the five friends, all in their 20s.

New Straits Times reported that the bystanders were enraged when the black car screeched to a halt at the crash scene.

An argument started and several bystanders smashed the car's rear windscreen.

The five then left the scene but returned minutes later to confront their assailants.

This time, witnesses said, the Iswara hit a stationary Proton Perdana at a nearby petrol station and all hell broke loose.

One by one, the men were dragged out of their car and beaten by about 30 people armed with crash helmets, sticks and stones, reported Berita Harian.

One of the women, who was still in the car, was not spared. Her clothes were ripped in the attack. The mob set upon her even as a friend tried to shield her.

Meanwhile, others smashed the front windscreen and windows and even jumped on the roof of the car.

Those who did not take part in the attack either ran away or simply stood and watched. One witness later said: "I cannot believe that such violence could happen on our streets...

"In the chaos, I remember hearing one of the victims shout out to his bloodied friend, 'Remember their faces! remember their faces!'"

The assault lasted less than 20 minutes and by 5am, the crowd had dispersed.

The victims were sent to hospital for treatment.

Nanyang Siang Pau reported that Mr Lu Guosheng, 23, a telecommunications officer, was the most severely injured. But he has since regained consciousness.

Cops were present

His sister claimed that four traffic cops who were present during the scuffle didn't do anything to help.

She told Sin Chew Daily: "If the cops had intervened, my brother and his friends would not have been hurt."

Another victim, Mr Lai Jiaxi, 24, a telecommunications officer, said he needed stitches on his head after he was hit repeatedly.

He said: "We didn't do anything wrong. The assailants took our wallets and handphones. I lost RM500 ($200)." Dang Wangi district deputy police chief Sulaiman Salleh said yesterday the attack victims have lodged a police report at KL Hospital.

Police have not made any arrests yet and are investigating if the assailants belong to an illegal racing gang.

In the accident, which took place at 3am, an hour before the attack, an off-duty policeman allegedly made an illegal U-turn and rammed his Proton Saga into four oncoming motorcycles in the opposite lane.

A Nissan Bluebird behind the motorbikes could not stop in time and crashed into the Proton, reported The Star. Storekeeper Syed Mohd Shahrizal Syed Sahari, 21, who was riding pillion on a motorbike, was said to have been thrown some 15m away. He died on the spot.

His friend, MrAzizul Osman, also 21, whose bike MrShahrizal was on, was seriously injured.

Also seriously injured was another friend, MrKhairul Anuar Jalius, 20, who was riding another motorbike.

A fourth friend, MrAzrul Mohd Rosli, 20, avoided hitting the car but crashed in the middle of the road. A couple on another motorcycle were seriously injured.

Mr Shahrizal was to be married on 23 Nov, Nanyang Siang Pau reported. His mother, who was due for a kidney operation yesterday, postponed the procedure on hearing news of his death, his sister said.

The Proton's driver, a policeman, and his three passengers, one of whom is also a cop, fled the scene after the accident.

But police later detained the 30-year-old driver when he went to the traffic police headquarters to lodge a report at 10am on Sunday.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Nov 11, 2008.