KOTA KINABALU: Three people were killed and four others, including an infant, were injured when a train car crashed into a van near Kampung Memanjang in Beaufort district, about 97km from here.
The incident occurred during a heavy downpour at about 2.40pm as the train was transporting about 20 passengers to Pekan Beaufort station.
It is believed that the van driver, while crossing the railway track, tried to beat the train.
The van was carrying seven people, including four teenage girls and an infant.
Beaufort fire and rescue chief Runzee Abd Thani said the department received a distress call at 2.57pm and deployed 10 firefighters to the scene.
“Upon arriving at the scene, (we learned that) members of the public (had) helped to rush the injured infant and three teenagers to the district hospital, while the driver was pinned to his seat and a woman was trapped underneath the wreckage.
“Another teenager had been thrown out of the vehicle. We had to cut open the vehicle to pull the two trapped bodies. The trapped victims were confirmed dead by medical staff at the scene, while the teenager was pronounced dead at the hospital,” he said.
Runzee said the train’s passengers escaped unhurt, adding that the train driver pulled the brakes about 500 metres from the point of the accident.