JOHOR BAHRU – Two Singaporean women and a permanent resident were killed in a traffic accident in Johor, Malaysia, on Monday afternoon, reported The Star.

The victims were between 56 and 61 years old, said Kota Tinggi police officer Hussin Zamora, adding that a 59-year-old Singaporean man was injured.

The superintendent said the group was travelling in a Singapore-registered Honda Freed multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) from Kluang to Bandar Tenggara, a town in Kota Tinggi.

“The incident occurred when the Singapore MPV wanted to overtake a lorry in front but could not avoid a lorry coming from the opposite direction and the two vehicles collided head on,” he was quoted as saying in The Star.

He added that the three women passengers – two Singaporeans and a Malaysian who was a Singapore permanent resident – died at the scene.

The Singaporean male driver and the lorry driver survived and were taken to two different hospitals for medical treatment, he said.

A spokesman for Singapore’s consulate-general in Johor Bahru told The New Straits Times that the victims’ families had been informed.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it has been rendering consular assistance and support to the families of the Singaporeans involved in the accident through the Singapore Consulate-General in Johor Bahru.