Two killed in four-vehicle crash

PEKAN - A driver and passenger of a vehicle died in a four-vehicle pileup involving a car, van and two lorries at KM36 of the Kuantan-Segamat Road here yesterday.

In the 11am incident, Proton Wira driver Muhammad Padillah Hussin,52 and his passenger Nurul Solehah Muhammad Padillah, 23 were severely injured and were pronounced dead while receiving treatment in the Kuantan Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital (HTAA) emergency ward.

Pekan District Police Chief Superintendent Mohd Zaidi Mat Zin said in the incident the van driver Reduan Jaafar, 36 broke his arm and received treatment in the same hospital while the two lorry drivers Shahrizal Amin Ismail, 32, and Azmizan Awang, 38 escaped unhurt.

"Initial investigations showed the accident happened when the vehicle carrying the two victims was travelling from Segamat heading to Kuantan while the other three vehicles were from the opposite direction.

"At the location of the crash, the vehicle driven by Padillah was believed to have lost control and crashed onto the opposite lane and collided with the rear tire of one of the lorries before colliding with a van belonging to a pest control company.

"The results of the collision caused the vehicle to re-enter the opposite lane headed towards Kuantan," he said in a statement on Thursday.

Zaidi said the van that collided with the victim's vehicle was hit by one of the lorries from behind.

"The injured victims were sent to HTAA for treatments.

"The driver of the vehicle was declared dead at 1.53pm while receiving treatments in the emergency ward while the passenger died in the intensive care unit (ICU) at 6.45 pm," he said.

He said the fatal accident would be investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.