IPOH: Police have arrested the driver of a lorry believed to have lost control of his vehicle causing a few concrete poles it was carrying to fall off at Km256.1 of the North South Expressway south bound near Menora Tunnel here last night.
Kuala Kangsar district police chief ACP Razali Ibrahim said the 41-year-old trailer driver from Kedah was arrested for further investigation.
He said preliminary investigations revealed that the fallen concrete poles had caused damage on six vehicles including five cars; a Honda City, a Perodua Axia, a Nissan Sylphy, a Proton Iris and a Mercedes as well as another trailer which were all travelling on either side of the highway.
He said as a result of the incident, the driver of the Honda City, Leong Woei Ser, 34, and passenger, Cheah Kim Seng, 60, were killed at the scene, while two other passengers were seriously injured.
“The drivers of the Perodua Axia and the trailer suffered minor injuries, while the other three drivers escaped with no injuries,“ he said in a statement here today.
According to Razali, preliminary investigations found that the trailer was carrying 18 concrete pillars and was travelling north bound when the vehicle’s brakes were believed to have failed causing the driver to lose control as he went down hill.
“The driver is believed to have attempted to avoid crashing into the vehicle in front of him by swerving sharply from the left lane to the right lane causing the cargo to fall on the opposite side of the highway onto the Honda City which was then hit by another vehicle,“ he said.
He said the case was being investigated under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987. — Bernama
