Container lorry driver in Malaysia arrested after 1 killed, 2 injured in highway crash
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The accident is believed to have happened when the container lorry driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a highway divider.
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KLUANG - The police have detained a lorry driver involved in a three-vehicle accident that killed a 33-year-old Malaysian man and injured a married couple in Kluang, Johor.
Kluang deputy OCPD superintendent Nik Mohd Azmi Husin said the accident at KM69.5 of the North-South highway was believed to have happened when the container lorry driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a highway divider.
The lorry was carrying a fertiliser-filled container and was heading towards Johor Bahru from Kluang when the 40-year-old driver lost control of the vehicle.
The lorry crashed into the metal divider at the centre of the road, and capsized along with the container it was carrying, he said in a press statement on Nov 15.
He said the rear end of the lorry was then hit by a car travelling along the lane while a motorcycle crashed into the overturned container.
The car driver and motorcyclist were unable to stop the vehicle in time to avoid colliding with the trailer and its container.
The Malaysian motorcyclist had serious injuries on his head and body and died at the scene. According to Malaysia’s Chinese-language news outlet Sin Chew Daily, the victim worked as an aerospace engineer in Singapore and commuted daily between his home in Pasir Gudang and his workplace.
Meanwhile, a 25-year-old man who was driving the car suffered injuries to his legs and body, while his 26-year-old wife suffered injuries to her head.
Their one-year-old baby was also in the car but was unharmed, he said.
Superintendent Nik Mohd Azmi said that the lorry driver, who was also not injured, has been arrested to assist in the investigation under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
During questioning, the driver told police that the right front tyre of his lorry suddenly burst, causing him to lose control and veer to the opposite lane.
A urine test on the driver came back negative for drugs.
Photos and videos of the accident, which took place at about 7.30am on Nov 15, have made rounds on social media.
This accident occurred just two days after a similar incident in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, which resulted in the death of a woman
In the incident on Nov 13, the 21-year-old died when the car she was driving was crushed by a container at the Jalan Bukit Tengah traffic light junction. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
