KOTA KINABALU: It took firemen to recover the body of an elderly man trapped beneath the cement tanker he was driving after it skidded off the road and plunged into a ravine along Mile 18, Sandakan-Lahad Datu.
The victim, identified as Abd Halim Bolong, 72, was only extracted around noon on Monday (Sept 23) due to the difficulties in pulling the cement tanker out from the 10-metre-deep ravine.
Lahad Datu Fire and Rescue Station Chief, Sumsoa Rashid, said they responded to a distress call at 2:42 am.
A team of 10 firefighters arrived at the scene, about 29km from the station, in four vehicles at 3:35am.
“Initial investigations revealed that the cement tanker driven by the victim skidded off the road and fell into the ravine. The driver was pinned and buried in the soil.
"It was a long operation as we had to remove the tanker before extracting the body," Sumsoa said.
The victim's body was sent to the hospital and the case has been handed over to the police for further investigation.
The operation ended at 12:30pm.
