Malaysian road accident kills nine paramilitaries
KUALA LUMPUR: At least nine members of a Malaysian paramilitary force were killed on Tuesday (May 13) when their transport truck collided with a lorry, emergency services and media said.
It happened when the unit was returning to the northern Malaysian city of Ipoh after guarding a Hindu festival, Perak Emergency Services said in a statement.
"A police truck collided with a truck carrying gravel, trapping three victims in the front with 15 others in the back," the statement said.
Initial reports said eight members of Malaysia's Federal Reserve Unit were killed, plus the driver of their vehicle. A ninth paramilitary member later died of his injuries, news reports said.
"Two others remain in critical condition and a further seven are being treated for moderate injuries," Perak police chief Bakri Zainal Abidin told the New Straits Times newspaper.
Police arrested the 40-year-old lorry driver in connection with the accident, he added.
Malaysian news outlet The Star reported that the lorry driver did not sustain any injuries.
'An investigation is currently underway to determine the cause and for us to gather further information that may assist in the case," Abidin told reporters at the Teluk Intan Hospital's mortuary.
'As part of preliminary procedures, we conducted a drug test on the driver. So far, the results are negative."
Malaysia has one of the highest road accident death tolls in Southeast Asia, with somebody dying in a car accident almost every two hours, The Star newspaper reported in March.
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