KUALA KUBU BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Three people were crushed to death in the Malaysian state of Selangor when an overhead sign along the North South Expressway fell on the Mercedes Benz they were travelling in.

Hulu Selangor district police chief Supt R. Supramaniam said a trailer headed towards Ipoh had crashed into the rear of another lorry along KM399 of the highway at around 6.35am on Saturday (Oct 10).

"The force of the impact then sent the trailer hurtling into a metal signage. The collision caused a chain reaction which led to the signage crashing onto a Mercedes Benz car which was travelling in the opposite direction," he said.

The accident, he said, had caused the roof of the Mercedes car to be torn off.

The driver and two passengers in the car died at the scene.

The victims have been identified as retired Pusat Penyelidikan Galian Ipoh director-general Dzulkarnain Kamaruzzaman, 64, Jamnah Ibrahim, 56, and their daughter Nor Juliana Dzulkarnain, 17.

Supt Supramaniam said the bodies had been sent to Selangor's Kuala Kubu Baru Hospital for a post mortem.

He said the driver of the trailer would be detained pending a urine test.

Malaysian police have appealed for witnesses of the Saturday morning accident to come forward.