PRESENT POINT POWER

ABOVE: The scene of the accident, Km 41.5 Jlan Johor baru-Batu Pahat Trunk road; BELOW: The car crushed by the sand lorry killed the driver and pasenger on the spot

ABOVE: One of the knocked down motor cycle

The 8.00 am incident involved a Sand lorry, a car and two Motor cycles. The Police identified the dead as the driver of the car Poring Koh, 31 – 7 months pregnant; passenger besides driver Chan Mei Yin 29 and Motorcyclists Tan Kai Peng, 49 and Tee Ah Ahu 41. Another motor cyclist and the lorry driver cheated death.

ABOVE: The victims from left: Poring, Chan, Tee & Tan

The victims from Pontian were believed to be on their way to work

Details from NST (see the error in the age of the lorry driver)

Man loses pregnant wife, unborn child; 26 Sep 2006; Jassmine Shadiqe

JOHOR BARU: Yap Chee Peng was a broken man yesterday, his grief going well beyond the death of his wife in an accident that claimed four lives.

The 31-year-old, who works in Singapore, also had the excruciating task of burying the seven-month-old foetus that his wife Poring Koh, 31, was carrying.

His agony is understandable as the couple was eagerly awaiting the birth of their first child in November after a miscarriage last year that devastated them.

Yap was in a state of shock, as relatives wailed beside him, while awaiting the release of Koh’s body by Pontian Hospital authorities.

Koh had been driving to work with a colleague, Chan Mei Yin, 29, when a runaway lorry rammed into their car and two motorcycles in Pekan Nanas near Pontian about 8am. Koh and Chan died on the spot.

Ceramic tile-layer Tai Kai Peng, 49, and his pillion rider, Tee Ah Ahu, 41, who were on their way to work in Singapore, also died instantly.

The second motorcyclist, whose identity could not be ascertained immediately, is fighting for his life at the hospital.

Pontian district police Chief Superintendent Zainuddin Zainal said the accident occurred near the Pekan Nanas Immigration Depot after a heavy downpour.

He said the 26-year-old lorry driver, who escaped with minor injures, has been held for questioning.
ABOVE: This lorry driver whose vehicle caused all the fatalities

Initial investigations showed that the lorry, travelling from Johor Baru to Pontian, was negotiating a sharp bend when it went out of control.

"Based on the skid marks on the road, the lorry rammed into the car and then ploughed into the two motorcyclists. All the vehicles then ended up in a 25-metre deep ravine."

Zainuddin said fire and rescue department officers from Pekan Nenas were called in to extricate the bodies.
ABOVE: The delicate task of the rescue team in extricating one of the dead woman from the total wreck of the car which suffered a very high impact momentum from the heavily loaded sand lorry. BELOW: One of the dead motocyclist in a police stretcher to be taken to Pontian hospital for the usual post mortem examination.

He urged those who saw the incident to contact the Pontian district police headquarters at 07-6871023.

Details from STAR

Pregnant woman among four dead

PONTIAN: A pregnant woman and three others were killed in an accident here that involved a lorry, a car and two motorcycles.

The accident occurred at around 8am yesterday at the Johor Baru-Batu Pahat trunk road.

A lorry driver on his way to Pekan Nenas lost control of the vehicle and skidded onto oncoming traffic, crushing a Toyota Altis and two motorcycles, before landing in a ditch.

The dead were identified as Poring Koh, 31 who was seven and a half months pregnant, her colleague Chan May Yin, 29, motorcyclist Tee Ah Whu, 41, and his passenger Tan Kai Peng, 49. All four died instantly from head injuries.

Koh and Chan were in the car, heading for their workplace in Taman University while construction workers Tee and Tan, who were pinned under the lorry, were on their way to work in Singapore.

Another motorcyclist, businessman Lim Cheng Soon, 38, was seriously injured while lorry driver Jono Gindot, 53, who has been detained by police, escaped with minor injuries.

Koh’s husband, Yap Chee Ping, 31, who was in tears, said he had planned to have a special dinner in Singapore with his wife today.

“It was her birthday,” said Yap.

He added that they were looking forward to the birth of their first child and had even chosen a name for the baby.

Pontian OCPD Supt Zainuddin Zainal said the driver had been detained and police were trying to find out if he had been speeding when the accident occurred.

“He might have lost control of the vehicle while taking a corner and skidded to the other lane,” he said, adding that it was raining heavily at that time.

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