SLIM RIVER: The driver of an oil tanker met a fiery end after the lorry he was in caught fire in an accident at Km372 of the North-South (PLUS) Expressway near the north-bound Behrang R&R this morning.
The accident, which occurred around 8am involved an oil tanker laden with diesel and two steel-laden trailers.
Muallim District Police chief Supt Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof said the driver, identified as Mohamad Suhaimi Khamis, 38, from Puchong, Selangor, was burnt to death when he rammed the rear of one trailer parked behind the other, in the emergency lane.
“We will try to obtain the closed-circuit television camera footage from PLUS to facilitate further investigations into the incident,” he said in a statement here today.
He said the initial investigation found that the trailer driver Mohamad Jurid Bakar, 45, from Pekan, Pahang, had stopped his vehicle in the emergency lane after detecting faulty brakes.
“The other driver, Kamarul Azwar Abu Bakar, 34, from Jitra, Kedah, then parked his trailer in front of Mohamad Jurid’s to provide assistance as they were from the same company,” he said.
He said after helping Mohamad Jurid, Kamarul Azwar returned to his lorry and saw the tanker coming towards them and crashed into the rear of Mohamad Jurid’s lorry, causing it to be sandwiched between the two lorries before it caught fire.
The charred body of Mohamad Suhaimi Khamis was taken to Slim River Hospital, he said.
Meanwhile, according to tweets from PLUS Trafik, the incident had caused an eight-kilometre traffic congestion before noon. Work to put out the fire and remove the lorries were completed at around 1pm and the traffic flow returned to normal at 2pm. — Bernama
