IPOH: A 34-year-old trailer driver is believed to have nodded off at the wheel before ramming into a Proton Persona and five other vehicles that killed four people.
The impact caused the trailer and Proton Persona to plough into five other vehicles during the accident at KM277.1 of the North-South Expressway (southbound) near Meru Raya here, yesterday.
Due to the impact, three passengers and the driver of the Proton Persona were pinned to their seats and pronounced dead at the scene by a medical team.
District police chief Assistant Commissioner Yahaya Hassan when contacted today confirmed the matter.
The 3pm horrific accident killed a retired policeman Rahim Ramli, 60; his wife Siti Petimah Omar, 59; and their two daughters Nor Hadirah, 28, and Nor Hamizah, 27.
Meanwhile, Perak police chief Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said further checks revealed that the trailer driver, who is from Rawang, Selangor, had 13 traffic summons from 2018 to last year with three of them involving road accident cases in 2012, 2020 and 2021.
Mior Faridalathrash said the driver's urine test came out negative.
"We have detained the trailer driver and he will be remanded today for further investigations," he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1957 for causing death by reckless driving.
He also urged those who witnessed the accident to contact the investigation officer, Inspector Mohd Tarmini Che Hassan at 013-594 9441 to assist investigations.