KOTA TINGGI: A fatal accident involving four vehicles claimed the lives of a man and woman at Km61.5 of Jalan Johor Baru-Mersing, here, yesterday.
The 11.40am four-vehicle crash involved a 42-year-old woman driver with a passenger in an MPV, a 32-year-old woman in a car, a motorcyclist, 21, and a lorry driver, 68.
District acting police chief Deputy Superintendent Mohd Syamsuri Mohamad said the MPV's 51-year-old female passenger and the 21-year-old motorcyclist who suffered severe head injuries were pronounced dead at the scene.
The remaining motorists sustained minor injuries.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the MPV driver from Johor Baru heading towards Mersing had veered into the opposite traffic direction in the two-lane road while attempting to overtake a vehicle.
The car driver travelling in the opposite direction veered into the far-right lane to avoid the oncoming MPV, and skidded by the road shoulder before crashing into a concrete road marker.
The MPV driver, in her attempt to move back into her lane, crashed into a motorcycle, which resulted in her passenger who was seated in the rear seat being thrown out of the MPV onto the road.
Syamsuri said a metal object believed to be a car jack from the MPV was thrown out of the vehicle and crashed into the oncoming lorry driver's windscreen.
It pierced through the windscreen before hitting his chest. The driver crashed the lorry into the road shoulder.
The victim's bodies were transported to the Kota Tinggi Hospital's forensic unit, while the survivors sought treatment at the same hospital.
Investigations under the Road Transport Act 1987 for dangerous and reckless driving are underway.