TRAGEDY: The grossly mangled Toyota Rush involved in the accident that took the lives of nine Indonesians.
Victims were on their way back to Indonesia when their vehicle collided with lorry at Jelukong in Engkilili
ENGKILILI: A trip home to celebrate the coming Hari Raya Puasa turned tragic for nine Indonesians who lost their lives in an accident at Jelukong here early yesterday morning.
The nine victims have been identified as Muslimin Jabiah and Maulidi Jabiah (both 25 years old), Jafri Annuar, Juhran and Ilham Muzani (all 26 years old), Ilham Tamrin (27), Yusran Said (29), Junaidi Tamrin (38) and Asmadi (51).
It is understood that they all died on the spot when the Toyota Rush they were travelling in collided head-on with a fruit-laden lorry at about 3.30am.
The driver of the Toyota Rush, an Indonesian by the name of Pamdin Tam, 40, suffered serious injuries and is being treated at the Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching.
The lorry driver managed to escape the horrendous accident with only minor injuries, while his passenger suffered a broken leg after being thrown out of the lorry due to the impact. Both are locals.
According to a source, the ill-fated vehicle ferrying the 10 Indonesians, was heading towards Kuching when it collided with the on-coming lorry which was heading towards Saratok.
All the Indonesians, who had valid travel documents, were reported to be coming down from Bintulu and had wanted to return to home to celebrate Hari Raya with their families.
“Right after the Toyota Rush passed Jelukong, it was believed that the vehicle lost control and rammed into the lorry which was coming down from Kuching.
“The strong impact from the collision caused the lorry to turn sideways while the Toyota Rush ended up grossly mangled a few metres away,” said the source, adding that the accident could also be partly due to the heavy early morning mist.
At press time, police were still trying to get in touch with the Indonesian Consulate General office in Kuching to arrange for the transportation of the remains to their homeland.
SITE OF THE ACCIDENT: JKJR is not ruling out speed management factors because the accident happened in an almost straight road.
All the remains are now kept at the Sri Aman Hospital mortuary.
Meanwhile, the Sarawak Road Safety Department (JKJR) director Rano Alwino Akat, when contacted by The Borneo Post, said JKJR would conduct a thorough research on the accident once they get the full report from the relevant authorities.
The site of the accident would also be marked as a ‘black spot’, considering that nine lives were lost in the incident, he added.
“JKJR view this collision as very serious. We will conduct our research to find out why the accident was so severe. Right now we can only make speculations on the cause of accident. Although heavy mist was claimed to be the main culprit, we cannot rule out road, vehicle condition, human factor and speed management as well.
“Other risk factors would be considered as well as the point-of-impact between the two vehicles happened in an almost straight road,” said Rano.
He advised those who would be making long journeys to travel during daytime as they would have better visibility and energy to overcome driving stress.
“Statistics shows that accidents often occur from the 6pm to 6am time frame. Therefore, if one needs to make a night journey, it is better to at least have a second driver. Otherwise, better wake up early in the morning to make the journey after you have a proper rest and feel fresh.”