KUCHING: A female school leaver perished in a road accident in Padawan yesterday after a motorcycle she was travelling on was involved in a head-on collision with a pickup truck.
The deceased was identified as 18-year-old Laura Danny of Kampung Tabuan Rabak.
The fatal collision occurred around 4.15am yesterday while she was travelling with her 20-year-old male relative to Kampung Menjau via Jalan Mambong/Tabuan Rabak.
They collided with a Isuzu Invader pickup truck and were thrown off their motorcycle.
A van driver, travelling behind the truck, witnessed the incident and immediately stopped to assist the two young victims.
He said the Invader driver had stopped momentarily but then sped off from the scene.
It was later learned that the driver fled, fearing for his safety. He had lodged a police report of the collision later the same day.
The parents and family members of both victims rushed to the scene when told of the accident. They were present when paramedics arrived to check the injured pair.
When medical personnel informed Laura’s parents and other family members that she had succumbed to her injuries, they were distraught and inconsolable.
The 20-year-old male relative, who suffered serious head injuries, was sent to the Sarawak General Hospital and was admitted into the red zone.
Padawan district police chief Supt Ng Ah Lek, who confirmed the case, said initial investigation revealed that the pickup truck had entered the opposite lane moments before crashing into the motorcycle.
The driver, he added, had been sent to hospital to undergo blood tests to detect possible alcohol or drug consumption.
In a separate incident, a motorcyclist was killed after losing control of his motorcycle while riding past Kampung Stunkur in Lundu on Friday night.
The victim, 61-year-old Tan Yong Hua, was believed to be heading back home in Lundu bazaar when he lost control and crashed by the road side at KM30 Jalan Bau around 8.30pm.
Police were on hand to investigate the incident. Tan’s body was sent to Lundu hospital for post mortem.
The case is being investigated under section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.