5 BURNED TO DEATH IN 3-VEHICLE COLLISION
Trailer smashed car from behind into another trailer, trapping victims
FIVE Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah (USAS) students were burnt to death when their car caught fire after a collision with two trailers at Km246 of the North-South Expressway near here yesterday.
The dead were Muhammad Nasrun Aidol Munir Akbar, 22, from Kuala Kubu Baru, Selangor; Ahmad Naim Najmi Ahmad Hafizan, 21, from Cukai, Terengganu; Iqbal Hasnun Halimi, 23, from Senai, Johor; Muhammad Nabil Haikal Muhammad Fariz, 19, from Batu Caves, Selangor; and Ahmad Akmal Ahmad
Mokhlis, 20, from Parit Buntar, Perak.
Perak police chief Datuk Mior Faridalathrash said the Kuala Kangsar Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Division was alerted at 1.45am.
He said the accident involved three vehicles: a Honda City and two trailers carrying tiles and steel on the northbound lane of the expressway.
“The driver of the trailer transporting tiles was driving on the right lane as the left lane from Km246 to Km244.4 of the expressway was closed for maintenance.
“The Honda City was behind the trailer.
“The trailer and car were believed to have slowed down when another trailer on the same lane, laden with iron fencing, failed to brake on time and rammed the car into the first trailer.”
Mior said the collision resulted in the car and the trailer with iron bursting into flames.
“The driver and passengers of the Honda City could not escape as they were all pinned to their seats, and were burnt to death.
“A post mortem will be carried out at Kuala Kangsar Hospital,” he said, adding that police had arrested a 28-year-old trailer driver.
A Perak Fire and Rescue Department spokesperson said firefighters from Kuala Kangsar, assisted by a team from Meru Raya and water tankers from Kamunting and Ipoh were dispatched to the scene.
“There were eight people in the accident, where five of them were burnt to death after the car they were in caught fire.”
“Another 20-tonne trailer laden with steel also caught fire but the driver escaped unhurt.
“The accident also involved another 20-tonne trailer carrying tiles, but the driver and his assistant escaped unhurt,” he said, adding that both vehicles were 90 per cent burnt.
The operation to extricate the bodies went on until about 6am.