Toddler escapes death after lorry plunges into ravine

A two-year-old escaped death after the lorry, the toddler was travelling in plunged into a ravine at Farm Kea, Jalan Besar here on Sunday.

The toddler’s father, Woo Hon Meng, 36, was killed in the 3pm incident.

Cameron Highlands District police chief Deputy Superintendent Hasadid A Hamid said the victim was driving from Brinchang to Ulu Tenom when he lost control of the lorry and swerved off the road before plunging into the ravine.

Initial investigations revealed the vehicle’s brake system had malfunctioned.

“Upon reaching a narrow and steep stretch of road, the brakes had malfunctioned causing the vehicle to crash into the guardrail several times.

“It then plunged as far as 15 to 18-metre ravine into a vegetable farm. No other vehicles were involved in the incident,” he told Astro AWANI, here on Sunday.

Hasadid said, the victim has been sent to the Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom Hospital for a post mortem and the case will be investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act.

The toddler sustained injuries to the eyes, face and body apart from a broken right hand and is currently receiving treatment at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh.

Cameron Highlands Fire and Rescue Department operation chief Muhamad Haziq Hazmi said the department was alerted of the incident at 3.24pm.

“Upon reaching the crash site, we found the victim had died and still buckled to his seat. We used hydraulic cutters to rescue the toddler.

An investigation is underway to determine the actual cause of the incident.