KUCHING: An Indonesian oil palm estate worker was killed after a wagon transporting him and 13 other workers overturned into a ravine in Simunjan on Friday.
The uninjured oil palm estate workers help firefighters to extricate the deceased from beneath the wagon.
The incident happened around 3pm at KM29 Jalan Kampung Kepayang, when the 29-year-old victim and his co-workers were being transported back to their barracks at Ladang Kepayang in a wagon pulled by a tractor.
Simunjan District police chief DSP Choo Yin Kok said initial investigation revealed that the tractor went out of control after skidding on the wet road following a short downpour.
“The tractor skidded to the right side of the road and plunged into the ravine, causing the victim be flung out of – and subsequently pinned underneath – the wagon he was in,” he said in a statement to the press.
Firefighters were summoned to the scene to help extricate the victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel from Simunjan Hospital. Choo said the incident was being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
In an unrelated incident in Lundu, a man was killed in a head-on collision with a lorry on Friday while trying to avoid a motorcycle, which had crashed in front of him.
Fourty-year-old Lawrence @ Mohd Taufik Abdullah, was travelling towards Lundu bazaar when the accident occurred around 7.30pm at Kampung Senibong, along Jalan Lundu-Bau. Lundu District police chief DSP Wong Chee Keong said initial investigation revealed that the fatal collision happened after Mohd Taufik had tried to avoid hitting a motorcycle in front of him.
“The motorcyclist had crashed in the middle of the road after hitting a dog, resulting in the deceased, who was travelling in a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), to swerve into the opposite lane to avoid running over the victim.
“This, however, resulted in him colliding head-on with a three-tonne lorry transporting vegetables heading towards Kuching, killing him on the spot,” said Wong.
The 46-year-old lorry driver sustained light injuries and was sent to Lundu Hospital for treatment, while the motorcyclist was unhurt.