KOTA BELUD: Eight people were killed and four others sustained injuries and minor injuries in a four-vehicle collision along Jalan Kota Belud/Kota Marudu, near Keguraan, here early yesterday morning.
The four vehicles involved in the 5.50am incident were a Proton Gen2, a Proton Saga, a Perodua Kancil and a Toyota Hilux four-wheel-drive.
Among those killed was a police lance corporal, identified as Herlin Naxe Jeffery, 26, who was attached to the IPD Klang Selatan in Selangor.
Herlin was a passenger in the Proton Gen2 car, with driver Frenwell Jeffery, 31, and another passenger, Ellyzek Johnny, 28, all killed at the scene.
The other five victims were passengers of the Proton Saga car, identified as Hamirah Mohamad Salleh, 39, Nursyikah Abd Jumat, 3, Aidil Abd Jumat, 8, who were killed at the scene, while Vera Adira Jalius, 6, and Neta Ramlan, 37, both died at the Kota Belud Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu respectively.
The 24-year-old driver of the Proton Saga car and another passenger aged 21, and both drivers of the Perodua Kancil car and the Toyota Hilux vehicle, aged 34 and 45 respectively, sustained injuries and minor injuries.
Kota Belud police chief Superintendent Mohd Zaidi Abdullah said initial police investigations revealed that the incident happened when the Proton Gen2 car, heading to Kota Marudu from Kota Belud, collided head-on with the Proton Saga car that was coming from the opposite direction.
The Perodua Kancil car and the Toyota Hilux vehicle that were tailing the Proton Saga car however managed to avoid the collision but ended in a drain.
Mohd Zaidi said a thorough investigation was currently being carried out and he urged eyewitnesses to come forward to assist in their investigation.
The case is currently being investigated under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
Meanwhile, State Fire and Rescue Department Public Relation Officer, Superintendent Mohd Affendy Ramin said two teams of Fire and Rescue personnel were rushed to the scene upon receiving information of the incident at 5.59am.
It took about an hour for Fire and Rescue personnel to extract all the victims from their vehicles before handing the bodies to the police for further action.