IPOH: Three foreign nationals were killed and one injured after the car they were in veered off the road due to a burst tyre before being hit from behind by a lorry at Kilometre 306.1 of the North-South Expressway (PLUS) southbound earlier today.

Kampar police chief Supt Mohamad Nazri Daud said in a statement today that in the 1.49 pm incident, there were eight Bangladeshi nationals in the Naza Citra multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), including the three passengers who died at the scene - Abdullah Mohammad, 31, Ali Askar (no age) and Md Sohel Miah (no age).

Car driver Md Kobir Hossain, 32, and three other passengers - Md Saiful Islam, 25, Md Raju Miah, 27, and Sohel Rana, 30 - escaped unhurt while another passenger, Mohammad Sohel, 24, suffered injuries to his abdomen, head and left hand.

Seven of them were plantation workers in Cameron Highlands, Pahang while Abdullah’s occupation is not known.

Mohamad Nazri said preliminary investigations found that the car was heading from Cameron Highlands to Kuala Lumpur when its back left tyre burst, resulting in the driver losing control of the vehicle before it hit the guardrail.

“A lorry, travelling in the same direction, could not stop in time and hit the car from behind,” he said, adding that the lorry driver was not hurt.

He said the injured passenger was taken to the Tapah Hospital and that the case is being investigated under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.