By Carolyn Quek

A SINGAPOREAN man was killed in a car accident on an expressway near Kuala Lumpur last Tuesday afternoon, when the Chevrolet he was in skidded off the highway and landed in a drain.

Mr Tan Chee Ming, 39, who was a backseat passenger, was with relatives in the car when the accident occurred, according to Bernama news agency.

The accident took place along the 60km Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway that links to Genting Highlands, close to the town of Bentong in Pahang, at about 4.30pm.

Mr Tan had serious head injuries and was pronounced dead on arrival at the government-run Bentong Hospital.

He was travelling in the car at that time with his three-year-old son, who escaped with minor injuries.

The driver, Mr Ng Ah Lian, 50, and Yap Kin Khun, 13, had serious injuries and were taken to Selayang Hospital near the accident site.

It is understood that they are now in stable condition.

It is not known how Mr Tan was related to the others in the car.

Pahang traffic chief Mohamed Fauzi Abdul Rahim told reporters in Malaysia that the car was headed to Kuala Lumpur when the driver lost control of the vehicle and it skidded off the road before landing in the drain.

Malaysia had waived toll charges for motorists travelling on the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway during the Chinese New Year period.

Other highways also offered toll waivers or discounts as a gesture of goodwill to motorists returning to Malaysia to celebrate Chinese New Year.

The speed limit on major roads was lowered during the same period in a bid to reduce traffic accidents.

Latest available statistics from the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research showed that 14,618 road accidents occurred over two weeks during the Chinese New Year period last year.

The majority of fatalities were motorcyclists and their pillion riders.

Earlier this month, a Malaysian family of six were burnt beyond recognition on the North-South Expressway in Malaysia after the BMW they were in crashed into a stationary lorry.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.

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