Published: Wednesday August 17, 2011 MYT 6:27:00 PM
Updated: Wednesday August 17, 2011 MYT 6:28:59 PM

Nine killed in lorry-SUV collision in Sarawak

By LEONARD PHANG

KUCHING: Nine Indonesians were killed in a horrific collision near Sri Aman that flung most of them out of their vehicle and onto the road.

The Indonesians were travelling in a Toyota Rush, which collided head-on with a lorry at KM34 on the Sri Aman-Sarikei road at about 3.50am Wednesday. The lorry was heading towards Kuching.

The deceased are Asmadi, 21, Maulidi Mumziri, 22, Muslimin Jabir, 25, Ilham Muzani, 26, Zafri Anwar, 26, Ilham Tamrim, 27, Yusran Said, 29, Zunaidi Tamrim, 38, and Juhran, 40.

Most of the victims died on the spot.

A passenger of the Toyota Rush survived the crash.

The lorry driver, Then Kee Nyong, 45, suffered leg injuries.

Police and Fire and Rescue Department personnel arrived at the scene at about 4am and were shocked at what they saw.

"Many of the victims were lying on the road. The vehicle was just too packed with people,” said a police spokesman.

The bodies of the victims were later sent to the mortuary at the Sarawak General Hospital.

Rescue workers had to extricate the lorry driver, who was trapped in his vehicle which landed on its side. He has been detained by the police for investigations.

Published: Thursday August 11, 2011 MYT 12:35:00 PM
Updated: Thursday August 11, 2011 MYT 1:43:57 PM

Safety supervisors a must for construction sites

ALOR SETAR: All construction companies will be required to appoint Site Safety Supervisors (SSS) from Jan 1 next year due to the high rate of fatal accidents at sites.

Occupational Safety and Health Department Director-General Datuk Johari Basri said between January and May this year, there had been 17 cases of fatal accidents. There were 66 cases last year.

"For companies with projects worth RM20mil and above, they have to have a full-time SSS, as well as a Safety and Health Officer.

"They are required to check on the safety of the machinery or the construction site and only after they are found safe can the workers be allowed to continue their work at the site," he told reporters at the closing of a briefing and dialogue on Safety and health here.

He said companies which failed to abide by the regulation could be fined RM1,000.

A total of 9,136 construction sites are registered with the department. - Bernama

Sunday August 14, 2011

Man who dozed off dies in blaze

JOHOR BARU: A 50-year-old man was burnt to death when his wooden house caught fire.

Sabtu Hussein’s body was found inside his bedroom at Rumah 102 in Jalan Pantai, Kampung Bakar Baru, yesterday.

Johor Baru Fire and Rescue Department operations commander Raja Saiful Raja Iswandi said the department received a distress call at 5.28am yesterday from a neighbour.

“We put out the fire at around 7.30am,” he said, adding that the department found the victim’s charred body on a mattress.

He said the victim, who was staying alone, might have dozed off after sahur.

Published: Thursday August 11, 2011 MYT 2:38:00 PM

Fire wipes out Machan town in S'wak

KANOWIT: A pre-dawn fire Thursday razed to the ground the entire town of Machan, comprising 10 units of double-storey coffee and retail shops.

A man in his 70s suffered burns when he tried to save his belongings in the 2.40am fire, community leader Kapitan Leong Khing Hee said.

Machan, which is about a 20-minute drive from here, is at the heart of an oil palm growing area in the district.

Leong said the residents of the town, assisted by their Iban neighbours, faced great difficulty in fighting the blaze and trying to save the shops, which are more than 50 years old.

"We were greatly hampered by the low water pressure due to the current dry season. We do not have suitable pumps to draw water from the nearby Machan river," he said.

Leong said the injured man had been admitted to the Kanowit district hospital.

An officer of the Kanowit Fire and Rescue Department, Douglas Graji, said his office received a call about the fire at 3.14am.

"Fourteen of us (firemen) immediately rushed to the scene. We were later joined by 10 fire-fighters from Sibu. We managed to bring the fire under control 30 minutes later," he said. - Bernama