KOTA TINGGI: A fatal accident involving three vehicles, including a sports utility vehicle (SUV) suspected of carrying smuggled cigarettes, resulted in three deaths at KM56 of the Senai–Desaru Highway (E22) on Saturday (Oct 11) afternoon, Sinar Harian reports.
Kota Tinggi OCPD Supt Yusof Othman said that a 32-year-old local man driving an SUV sustained serious injuries in the crash, which also involved another SUV and a hatchback at around 11:45am, the Malay language daily.
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He stated that the second SUV was driven by a 25-year-old local woman, while the hatchback was driven by an unidentified man with three passengers.
Earlier, it was reported that Bandar Penawar Fire and Rescue operations commander had said that two people had died while three more were seriously injured in the crash.
However, Supt Yusof said that one of the seriously injured victims had died en route to Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Baru, bringing the total number of fatalities to three.
"Initial investigations revealed the accident occurred when the first SUV veered into the opposite lane. The second SUV managed to avoid a collision, but the hatchback behind could not, resulting in a head-on crash with the second SUV," he said.
He added that all victims were rescued by bystanders before the vehicles caught fire.
"The first SUV is suspected of carrying smuggled cigarettes. Further investigations regarding this are being conducted by the district Criminal Investigation Department. The driver is currently receiving treatment at Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Baru," he said.
Yusof stated that the accident claimed the lives of the driver and two passengers of the hatchback.
"Two victims died at the scene, while another passed away en route to Sultan Ismail Hospital. Another passenger from the hatchback is receiving treatment at HSI. The driver of the second SUV was unharmed," he said.
