KUANTAN, Dec 29 — Three Thai women were killed, while three others were seriously injured in a road crash at Kilometre 43.2 of the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway (Eastbound), near Karak in Bentong early today.
Bentong district police chief Supt Yusuf Unis said the accident occurred about 1am and involved a Toyota Hilux four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle and a lorry laden with rubber scrap.
He said the Thai women killed in the crash were all from Narathiwat in Thailand and identified them as Yawiyah, 53, her cousin Maskah, 49, and their friend, Jantana, 43.
He said Yawiyah’s husband, identified as Mama, 55, who was at the wheel of the Toyota Hilux 4WD, sustained serious injury and was rushed to the Bentong Hospital.
The crash occurred when the lorry driver, on the way to Kuala Krai, Kelantan, was believed to have lost control of the wheel while taking a bend on the hilly slope of the right lane, causing the vehicle to skid and crash into a wall before falling on the Toyota Hilux which was travelling on the left lane, he added.
He said all the victims were pinned in their seats and firemen took almost an hour to remove them from the wrecked vehicles.
The 31-year-old lorry driver and his attendant, aged 52, both from Kelantan, also sustained serious injuries in the crash, he added.
The lorry driver was sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, while the attendant, to the Bentong Hospital, where the bodies of the three women were also sent for a post-mortem. — Bernama
