Truck driver, wife perish in Sandakan-Lahad Datu road accident

A container truck driver and his wife perished when their vehicle collided with another lorry at kilometre 126, Sandakan-Lahad Datu road Friday night.

District police chief Supt A. Sahak Rahmat said in the incident around 9.50 pm, Ramli Manti, 37, died on the spot, while Sima Katta Salama, 31, passed away while being treated at Kinabatangan Hospital.

"Initial investigations revealed that the container truck was heading to Lahad Datu from Sandakan when it veered to the opposite lane and rammed into the oncoming 10-tonne lorry.

"Sima was trapped in the passenger seat and the team from the fire and rescue station took about 30 minutes to extricate her," he said when contacted on Saturday.

He said the couple's daughter Nor Fatin Najiha aged 18 months suffered serious injuries on her right leg and was being warded at the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan.

The lorry driver aged 45, and his eight-month-old son sustained light injuries and were treated at the same hospital, said A. Sahak.