MIRI: A 24-year-old man died on the spot, while his friend was injured when the three-tonne lorry they were travelling in rammed into a 10-tonne lorry at KM50 Miri-Bintulu coastal road at about 11am yesterday.
Firemen extricating the body from the lorry.
The duo were said to be on their way from Miri to Batu Niah, when their lorry carrying weed killers was involved in the accident.
The deceased has been identified as Harrison Ding Uvang, from Long Naah, Baram while the injured was Anthony Nojau, 43, who was the driver.
According to Intan Jelay, 49, the driver of the 10-tonne lorry, he had parked his lorry on the road to help his friend, another lorry driver, to fix a burst tyre.
“I switched on my lorry’s emergency lights and I also placed an emergency triangle a few hundred metres away from my lorry before I went to check on my friend’s punctured tyre parked in front of my lorry,” he said when met at the scene yesterday.
While he was changing the punctured tyre, he said he heard a loud bang and immediately look towards his lorry.
He further said that he was shocked and terrified when he saw the other lorry driver come out of the vehicle with his face covered in blood.
“I was in shock and almost fainted. The lorry driver managed to escape but his friend who was sitting at the front passenger’s seat was pinned inside,” he said, adding that he was on the way to Batu Niah from Kuala Baram carrying sand.
It is understood that the lorry was moving at high speed when the driver suddenly saw the emergency triangle in front of them but managed to avoid it by swerving to the opposite lane.
However a few seconds later, a car coming from the direction of Batu Niah forced the driver to get back to their original lane but could not make it, resulting in the lorry ramming the right side of Intan’s lorry.
Due to the impact, Anthony suffered injuries to his face while the deceased who was pinned inside the lorry succumbed to serious head injuries. Anthony was immediately rushed to Miri Hospital by an ambulance.
Personnel from the Fire and Rescue department who arrived at the scene at about 12.45pm helped to extricate the body which was later taken to Miri Hospital for post-mortem. Police are investigating.