KOTA KINABALU: The body of a man has been retrieved from a car that plunged into a sewer in Sabah’s east coast Sandakan district on Tuesday (April 18).
It was believed that the victim, 52, had driven the car into the open hole, located on the roadside at Bandar Letat, and landed in some 1.5m of water.
A Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said they were alerted to the incident at 7.29am.
The spokesman said a team rushed to the area and, together with the Public Works Department, drained the water from the sewer to make it easier to retrieve the victim who was trapped in the car.
“The victim was pronounced dead by a medical team from the Health Ministry,” he said in a statement.
The body was then handed over to the police for further action and the operation ended at 8.57am, he added.
In a statement later, Sandakan OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Fuad Abdul Malek said the motorist was heading to the city centre when the mishap occurred.
“He lost control of the car, which then crashed into several plastic and concrete road barriers put in place by the contractors before plunging into the sewer, which was still under construction.
“Due to the impact, the victim died on the spot,” he said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 41(1)/85 of the Road Transport Act 1987.
As such, ACP Abdul Fuad advised road users to be more careful and observe road signs so they will be aware of any construction activity to prevent untoward incidents.
In a separate accident, a pedestrian and a motorcyclist were killed in a collision at Jalan UMS, near Kampung Rampayan, on Tuesday.
It is said that both victims died on the spot in the 8.30am incident.
It is also learnt that a grandchild of the 54-year-old pedestrian and the wife of the motorcyclist, 42, were injured.
Police have yet to release details of the incident as investigation was ongoing at the time of writing.
