KUALA LUMPUR: Police have refuted claims made in a viral video that linked an ambulance overturning in Putrajaya to a drunk driver's actions last night.
Putrajaya district police chief Assistant Commissioner A. Asmadi Abdul Aziz, in a statement issued on Friday night, urged the public not to jump to conclusions about the incident and advised witnesses to report their accounts to the police.
"Netizens are quick to offer their baseless comments. However, the investigating officer at the scene of the incident found that the driver was not under the influence of alcohol and the motorist's urine test was found to be negative.
"The motorist was travelling in tandem with other vehicles in the right and left lanes, and he did not hear or see the ambulance siren because his car was blocked by the vehicle in front of him, travelling in tandem," he said.
Asmadi said the incident happened at 11.45pm at the Lebuh Bestari traffic light intersection near Menara Usahawan when an ambulance carrying a patient overturned after being hit by a car driven by a foreigner.
He said the investigation found that the ambulance was carrying three Putrajaya Hospital staff on its way to the hospital after picking up a patient at Precinct 18.
He said the ambulance, upon arriving at the scene of the incident, had its sirens on before it was suddenly hit by a car from the opposite direction.
"Investigation found that the motorist panicked and did not have time to brake before hitting the ambulance while passing through the traffic light intersection in which the light turned green at that time," he said.
He said the car was coming from the direction of Persiaran Perdana towards the Putra Mosque while the ambulance was coming from the direction of Precinct 18 towards the Putrajaya Hospital.
"As a result of the collision, the ambulance overturned and three victims including two ambulance passengers and one patient were injured while the motorist and passenger were unhurt," he said.
The case was still under investigation according to Section 43 (1) of the Road Transport Act (APJ) 1987.
He said the police have also requested closed circuit television camera (CCTV) footage at the scene of the incident and witnesses to the incident are asked to come forward to assist the investigation. --BERNAMA