7 killed in 3 accidents on Malaysia's North-South Expressway

7 killed in 3 accidents on Malaysia's North-South Expressway

IPOH - Three grisly accidents that killed seven people occurred along Malaysia's most heavily used highway, the North-South Expressway or PLUS, in the past 10 days.

The latest occurred last Saturday when three people were killed when a cement tanker rammed into a stalled car near Ipoh, while it was being hitched up to be towed to a workshop.

The car, driven by Dr Sharifuddin Said, 43, had earlier spun out of control around 8.30am and hit the centre divider of the highway.

Tow truck operator Mohd Fazli Malijan, 38, his son Muhammad Shamsul and nephew Muhammad Amirul Hakimi Abdullah, both 15, died on the spot when the cement tanker ploughed into them as they were preparing to tow away the damaged car by the side of the highway.

The tanker's engine which was dislodged in the accident hit another car and a policeman who was taking notes about the first accident involving Dr Sharifuddin's car.

"The body of the tanker crashed into the railing on the left side while the engine hit a Proton Preve and ended up in the middle of the road," said Ipoh police chief Sum Chang Keong.

In the evening that same Saturday, an aircraft mechanic was killed along the same highway further north in Gurun, Kedah state, when his motorcycle rammed into the rear of a lorry parked on the emergency lane.

Mr V. Thingaran, 23, was killed on the spot in the 11.50pm accident, police said.

He was on his way to his mother's house in Sungai Petani town after attending a dinner at the Royal Malaysian Air Force camp in Kepala Batas in Penang.

The previous week, three members of a family were killed along PLUS in southern Perak in a freak accident when a giant overhead signboard crashed onto the roof of their car.

The Oct 10 accident occurred when a trailer heading towards Ipoh rammed into the rear-end of a lorry before losing control.

The trailer then hurtled into a metal pillar that held up the metal signboard, causing it to crash onto the moving car on the opposite site of the expressway near Tanjong Malim.

The accident ripped off the roof of the car, and the three died at the scene.

Those killed were retired engineer Dzulkarnain Kamaruzzaman, 64, his wife Jamnah Ibrahim, 56, and their 17-year-old daughter Nor Juliana.


This article was first published on October 19, 2015.
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