Man killed in head-on collision with lorry

0

MANGLED WRECK: Firemen extricating the victim’s body from the pick-up truck.

KUCHING: A pick-up truck driver was killed yesterday afternoon when he collided head-on with a 10-tonne lorry at Jalan Muara Tuang after a failed overtaking manoeuvre.

The deceased, 23-year-old Lai Chiang Hui of Chawan Road, died at the scene from serious injuries after his vehicle was crushed beneath the front of the lorry.

Several witnesses claimed the 3pm incident occurred after the pick-up truck – heading towards Samarahan – followed behind a Proton car in trying to overtake another vehicle along the single-lane road.

While the Proton car managed to complete the manoeuvre, the pick-up truck ended up colliding head-on with the on-coming lorry, resulting in both vehicles landing in a ditch at the side of the road.

Firemen took close to an hour to extricate Lai’s body from inside the wreckage, and only did so with the help of an excavator borrowed from a nearby quarry.

The victim, who is the youngest of five siblings, left behind a wife and three daughters aged between two and six.

In another road fatality, a sub-contractor died on Tuesday evening when his motorcycle crashed at an uncompleted section of road at Jalan Tun Razak.

The 69-year-old, Thian Faat Shin, was heading back to his house at Sungai Apong from the Kuching Port Authority when the accident occurred around 7.15pm.

He is believed to have crashed into a cavity at the side of the road – currently being upgraded – and died on the spot from serious head and body injuries.

Thian’s family members, including his eight children, rushed to the scene upon learning what had happened and broke down at the sight of his body.

Traffic police personnel were on hand to investigate the incident and later sent the body to the Sarawak General Hospital for a post-mortem.