BENTONG: Three Thai women were killed and three others were seriously injured in a crash between a four-wheel-drive vehicle and a trailer lorry at Km43 of the Kuala Lumpur-Karak highway, early today.
The deceased have been identified as Yawiyah, 53, her cousin Maskah, 49 and their friend, Jantana, 43.
Yawiyah’s husband, Mama, 55, who was behind the wheel, suffered serious injuries.
The driver of the trailer lorry, Mohd Ali Mohamed@Abdullah, 31, and his assistant, Mat Ripha Ismail, 52, were also badly hurt.
The 1am accident occurred when the driver of the scrap rubber-laden trailer lorry lost control of his vehicle, which crashed through the concrete median barrier and hurtled into the opposite lane, before slamming into the Toyota Hilux, which was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Narathiwat.
The impact of the crash caused the Hilux to turn turtle, before it was dragged by the trailer lorry for about 100 metres.
“The driver of the Hilux was rushed to the Bentong Hospital, along with the assistant of the trailer lorry. The trailer lorry driver was transported to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
“The three bodies were sent to the Bentong Hospital for post-mortems,” said district police chief Superintendent Yusuf Unis.
A Fire and Rescue department spokesman said 13 firemen from the Bentong and Genting Highlands fire stations were deployed to the scene after being alerted to the accident.
Rescuers took about two hours to extricate the deceased and injured victims from the mangled vehicles.
The operation ended at 4.30am.