Mother and infant son killed in accident along Kimanis-Keningau stretch

KOTA KINABALU: A mother and her infant son were killed when the vehicle they were in spun out of control along the Kimanis - Keningau road in Papar about 60kms from here.

The 36-year-old mother, who was holding her one-year-old son in the front passenger seat of the car, died at the Papar district hospital hours after the accident at about 6.15pm on Wednesday (Dec 29).

The baby was believed to have been thrown out of the multipurpose vehicle that spun several times before slamming into the hillside during a heavy downpour.

The driver and three others in the car were also injured and have been admitted to the Papar hospital for treatment.

Papar district police chief Deputy Supt Batholomew Umpit said Thursday (Dec 30) that the victims, members of a family, were travelling from interior Keningau to Papar when the accident occurred.

Based on initial investigations, he said the driver, who was the husband of the deceased, was taking a corner on a downward slope during heavy rains and lost control of his vehicle that spun several times before hitting the side of the hill.

"We believe the child held by the mother might have been thrown out from the vehicle," he said, adding that the child died on the spot.

He said the others in the car were a 12-year-old child and two women in their 20s and added that the police investigation is still ongoing.

In an unrelated accident in the east coast of Sabah, a woman was killed and eight others injured when their four-wheel drive vehicle skidded off Jalan Paris Satu in Lahad Datu at about 7.15am on Thursday.

Firemen had to extricate her body from the Isuzu DMax while the other passengers - five men and three women - were rushed to the hospital for treatment.