Driver held over fatal road crash in Semporna

SEMPORNA: Police have arrested a trailer lorry driver in connection with a threevehicle collision at KM21 Jalan Semporna-Tawau that left two foreign tourists dead and five others seriously injured Monday.

Semporna District Police Chief Supt Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah said the 29-year-old trailer driver, a local, was detained to assist in the investigation of the crash which involved the trailer lorry he was driving, a tour van and a ‘box’ lorry.

The case is being investigated under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 which provides imprisonment for up to 10 years and a maximum fine of RM50,000 if convicted, he said in a statement Tuesday.

He also urged witnesses or anyone with information on the crash to contact Semporna District Police Headquarters Traffic Investigation Officer Insp Hemkkumar Ayathuray at 0123650021 or the police station at 089-782020.

According to Mohd Farhan, the crash occurred at 3.30pm, believed when the trailer driver lost control of the wheel causing the vehicle to enter into the opposite lane and hit a tour van carrying six Singaporean and Vietnamese tourists aged between 11 and 71.

As a result of the collision between the two vehicles, debris from the accident flew into the glass screen of the box truck travelling behind the trailer truck.

A Singaporean man and a Vietnamese woman travelling in the tour van died at the scene of the incident,” he said, adding that the van driver, who is a local man, and four Singaporean passengers were seriously injured and sent to Tawau Hospital for treatment.