Market trader who fled scene of the accident, fearing he would be arrested, has become the most important witness of the fatal crash.
- Third vehicle was hit first before truck collided with van
- Police believe cause of accident is speeding by the truck driver
Police have recorded a statement from a market trader to assist in the investigation into a fatal accident involving a van and an ice truck at Km45 Ipoh-Teluk Intan road last Saturday in which nine people died.
Tapah district police chief, Supt Som Sak Din Keliaw said police had tracked down Beh Kok Meng, 47, who was a witness in the incident after his car number plate was found at the scene about 4pm on Sunday.
“He said the truck had veered into the opposite lane, grazing his Proton Iswara at the back before crashing into the van.
“The van was following behind his car.
“The man later kept his car at his house and did not lodge a police report as he did not have a driving licence and the car was without road tax and insurance coverage,” Som Sak said.
Beh, who is from Langkap, later made a police report at about 12.54am and his Proton Iswara was towed to the Tapah police headquarters for further action.
In his statement, he said he was on his way to the market to sell vegetables when the incident occurred.
Beh fled the scene of the accident as he feared he could be arrested for not having a driving licence and his road tax and insurance had expired in January.
“His car was the first to get hit by the truck, and subsequently his vehicle hit the van ahead.
“The impact caused his car to spin around twice. The trader got out of his car and saw the damage to the van.
“He then drove back and kept his car at his home in Chuan Nam Park, Langkap,” Som Sak said.
It was learnt that Beh also has six traffic summonses for speeding and for not possessing a road tax.
“We will deal with this separately.
“In relation to the accident, we will not take action against him as he was also a victim.
“He is now our main and important witness,” Som Sak said.
It was reported that a group of eight friends, aged between 55 and 82 from Ayer Kuning New Village, were killed in the accident.
They were heading to Malim Nawar where they worked as ‘sengkuang’ (Chinese turnip) farm workers when the incident occurred.
Also killed was van driver Lew San Jau, 33, from Malim Nawar.
Mohd Eizat Hani, the 22-year-old truck driver, suffered cuts and bruises to his head. He was discharged from the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh on Sunday.
“He was not remanded. We only detained him for 24 hours to take his statement.
“The blood sample we took from him has been sent for testing. The report will be ready in the next one to two weeks,” Som Sak said.
He revealed that Mohd Eizat started working as a truck driver less than a month ago.
“Personally, he has four traffic summonses but none related to the truck.
“The offences for the summonses include not wearing a seatbelt, not displaying the road tax, no rear mirror and an offence related to the specification of his car’s registration number plate.
“Police believe that the accident is still due to speeding and the weight of the truck also caused the loss of control of the vehicle,” Som Sak said.
Earlier report: Oct 28, Nine Killed in Van-Truck Collision in Tapah