KOTA KINABALU, Nov 1 ― A three vehicle accident here has caused the death of a couple along the Papar-Kimanis highway here.

A spokesman for the Fire and Rescue Department said two three-tonne lorries and a Toyota Vios car was involved in an accident at about 2pm today caused by bad weather and slippery roads.

The couple ― Danny Chin, 54 and Chong Chin Oji, 55 in the car died on the spot after a collision which saw all three vehicles spun out of control.

The couple’s 17-year-old daughter, Bernie, was severely injured and extracted from the wreckage before being rushed to the hospital.

They were believed to be travelling from Kota Kinabalu to Beaufort when the accident occurred with the lorries, one from the opposite direction.

The drivers of the two lorries and an assistant driver was also injured and were sent to the same Papar hospital.

In a separate unrelated accident in Semporna, another couple, in their forties, were killed when the four-wheel drive Nissan Navara they were travelling in, swerved off the road.

The vehicle had swerved off the road and landed in a 20 foot ravine. A team of six personnel from the Fire and Rescue Services Department had to extract the couple.

Jain Isnan, 40 and Rapidah Jumah, 39 were pronounced dead at the scene at about 5.35pm.

Meanwhile, a 51-year-old fisherman is feared drowned while attempting to retrieve his boat in waters near Tanjung Aru beach in Menumbok, Kuala Penyu.

Awang Tahir Daud had jumped off the boat from a floating barge when he realised his boat, initially tied to the barge, was floating away.

He had gone out on the boat, some 2km from the shore, at 8am and was carrying out repair works on the barge when he noticed the boat drifting away and immediately dived in.

But the rough waves had caused him difficulties in reaching his boat and he soon signalled to his two friends for help. His friends, too scared to go in after him, shouted for help from nearby fishermen and watched helplessly as Awang Tahir drifted away from sight.

Labuan Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency operation deputy director Commander Nor Bakari Abu Bakar said the agency had deployed a ship and two patrol boats to conduct Op Carilamat this morning.

He remains missing as of 5.30pm today. The search operation will continue with assistance from the Kuala Penyu Fire and Rescue Department, Labuan marine police, Civil Defence Department, and local fishermen.