MELAKA: A driver and his passenger met a fiery death in a five-vehicle accident at KM202.6 of the North-South Expressway (NSE) Southbound here last night.
In the 11pm incident, the victims, who were both travelling in a Proton Wira, were pinned in the wreckage by a lorry involved in the accident.
The lorry, laden with a 15-tonne soybean residue was believed to have been heading towards Pasir Gudang, Johor from Port Klang.
A police source said the incident happened when lane two and lane three of the highway were closed for road line painting works.
“A Nissan lorry, which was in lane three, was unable to stop on time when encountering the road closure and collided with the left side of a Mitsubishi lorry before dragging a Proton Wira to the left side of the road shoulder.
At the same time, a Placer-X van rammed the back of a Honda Civic on the stretch of road.
Due to the impact of the collision, the Proton Wira burst into flames resulting in driver and passenger burnt to death.
“The driver of Nissan lorry fled the scene and has yet to lodge a police report.
“We are trying to contact his company and in the midst of getting the driver’s details,” he said.
Melaka Senior Operations Commander, Senior Assistant Fire Superintendent Kushairy Deraman said effort to fight the fire and rescue victims were done with the help of PLUS Malaysia Bhd (PLUS) personnel.
“When we arrived at the scene, the fire was still raging and the lorry driver had managed to escape.
“It took us four hours to extricate the victims from the wreck of the Proton Wira.
The driver's body was freed at 3.05am and the body of the passenger taken out at 3.25am.
The identity of the two victims who perished in fire crash yet to be confirmed with their remains sent to the Alor Gajah hospital for post mortem.
Three other drivers escaped injuries.
Melaka Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department chief Superintendent Mohd Sham Abdullah said the case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for causing death by reckless driving.