KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 — Police are tracking down a lorry driver involved in a two-vehicle collision at the Taman Mutiara traffic light junction along the AMJ Highway in Melaka, which claimed the life of a motorcyclist and left his pillion rider injured in the early hours of this morning.

Alor Gajah district police chief Superintendent Ahmad Abu Bakar said the incident occurred at about 4.30am and involved a Yamaha 135LC motorcycle and a lorry, the type of which has yet to be identified.

According to him, the motorcyclist — a 19-year-old local man who worked as a food shop assistant — was pronounced dead at the scene after sustaining severe head injuries.

“The pillion rider, a 19-year-old local woman who is unemployed, suffered a fractured hip and finger and is currently receiving treatment at hospital,” he said in a statement today.

He said preliminary investigations found that the motorcycle was believed to have failed to stop at a red traffic light while travelling from Pengkalan towards Alor Gajah town, before colliding with a lorry that was moving from the left at the junction.

“However, the lorry driver fled the scene and has yet to be identified.

“The case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987,” he said.

Ahmad said police are actively tracing the lorry driver and urged members of the public with any information — including dashcam footage or who may have witnessed the incident — to come forward to assist in the investigation.

Information can be channelled to investigating officer Inspector Loh Gia Xao at 019-5382353 or by visiting the Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department at the Alor Gajah district police headquarters.