KOTA BARU: Three died and five were seriously injured in an accident involving three pickup trucks on Jalan Kuala Krai-Gua Musang, Kampung Pahi, early Saturday (April 27) morning.
The dead victims comprised two men and a woman while four men and a woman were seriously injured, one of whom later succumbed to injuries at the red zone of the Sultan Ismail Petra Hospital.
A Kuala Krai Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said the fire department received an emergency call at 12.36am and arrived at the scene 17 minutes later.
He said a total of 17 firemen from the Kuala Krai and Sungai Durian stations were deployed to the location and found that two pickup trucks had collided with another truck.
"A victim was stuck in the vehicle and the firemen carried out rescue operations to extricate the victim using the Rescue Power Unit," he said when contacted today.
According to him, all the victims involved in the accident were sent to Kuala Krai Hospital.
Meanwhile, Kuala Krai district police chief Supt Mazlan Mamat confirmed another passenger who was involved in the accident died at 1.50pm Saturday while in the red zone of the Sultan Ismail Petra Hospital, bringing the accident's death toll to four.
He said preliminary police investigations found that the accident was believed to have occurred when a 4WD vehicle driven by a 37-year-old local man with three other passengers was traveling from Ipoh, Perak, to Machang.
Following that, the 4WD lost control and hit another 4WD driven by a 53-year-old man who was in the opposite lane.
"This case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 and the police will carry out a detailed investigation.
"People who witnessed or have information about this incident are asked to assist investigations by contacting the Traffic Investigation Officer, Insp Mohamad Amirul Izham Azian at 019-638 0098 or the Kuala Krai district police headquarters operations room at 09-966 6222," he said in a statement Saturday. - Bernama
