Police personnel gather evidence at the scene.
A policeman prepares to wrap up the machete and hammer used in the incident.
SIBU: A lorry driver was arrested yesterday after he cut a car passenger with a machete following an accident involving his lorry and a car at Indah East Lane 1.
The 9.30am incident occurred when the lorry and car travelling in opposite lanes clipped each other along a narrow stretch when the drivers of both vehicles apparently refused to give way.
Eyewitnesses said this sparked a quarrel and a passenger of the car approached the lorry driver with a machete.
Seeing the passenger armed, the lorry driver initially refused to get out.
One eyewitness, who posted his account of the incident on Facebook, said the passenger then threw the machete on the roadside to challenge the lorry driver to a fight.
This led the lorry driver to alight armed with a hammer.
He also grabbed the machete by the roadside and attacked the passenger, who suffered a cut on his left thigh.
According to the eyewitness, the lone lorry driver was likely acting out of self-defence as there were other passengers in the car.
When the police arrived, they seized both the machete and hammer.
They also arrested the lorry driver to assist with the investigation.
Police have not confirmed whether the attack was a case of self-defence as claimed by the netizen.
According to the police, the accident happened when the car driver was heading to a longhouse in Durin.
It is unclear how many passengers were in her car when the accident occurred, but the passenger who challenged the lorry driver is said to be the driver’s son.