KOTA KINABALU: A two-year-old girl was killed after the motorcycle she was on with three other family members was involved in a collision with a lorry in Sabah’s east coast Lahad Datu district on Thursday.
The girl was riding a pillion along with her mother, 29, and three-year-old brother, with the father, 47, riding the motorcycle when the incident occurred at Mile 4, of the Jalan Pan Borneo roundabout at 2.15pm.
Lahad Datu police chief Asst Comm Dzulbaharin Ismail said the family of four was headed to the district from the neighbouring Sandakan.
Once they entered the lane at the roundabout, he said, a lorry driven by a 59-year-old man suddenly exited a junction on the left into the roundabout.
“Because of the short distance, the rider could not swerve the motorcycle in time and it crashed into one of the front tyres of the lorry,” he said, in a statement on Friday (Nov 15).
“Following the collision, the four on the motorcycle were thrown off onto the road,” he added.
ACP Dzulbaharin said the girl died on the spot due to serious injuries.
He said the other family members were injured and rushed to the Lahad Datu hospital.
“We have taken blood samples from the lorry driver as well as the motorcycle rider and sent them to the Chemistry Department for alcohol and narcotics tests,” he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for causing death by reckless or dangerous driving, he added.
ACP Dzulbaharin urged those who had any information pertaining to the accident to contact the investigating officer Insp Muhammad Rasul Ramlee at 089-881225.
Meanwhile, a senior citizen perished while her daughter and two grandchildren suffered burns in a fire at Kampung Muhibbah in the rural Ranau district, about 100km from here early Friday.
The charred remains of Wong Ling Ying, 74, were found in the living room of their house. It was believed she had fallen from her room on the first floor onto the living room.
It was understood that the family were sleeping upstairs and was rudely awakened by the inferno.
The victim, it was believed, was trapped in the house while her daughter, 48, grandson, 11, and nine-year-old granddaughter managed to slip out through the window on the upper floor.
Ranau Fire and Rescue station chief Ridwan Mohd Taib said they were alerted of the incident at 1.20am and a team was immediately deployed to the location about 1km from the station, he added.
“On reaching the area, we found two houses on fire, with one almost burned down while the other 50% destroyed,” he said, when contacted.
“Those injured were rushed to the district hospital for treatment and the cause of the fire is being investigated,” he said, adding the operation ended at 4.14am.
