Enforcement to be stepped up against heavy vehicle operators after fatal Melaka pile-up

Concern in Malaysia over a multi-vehicle highway crash that killed seven people on Dec 23 has prompted the authorities to step up enforcement against errant heavy vehicle operators.

- Harith Mustaffa

More than 1,400 deaths involving heavy vehicles were reported in the last six years, the traffic police said, as Malaysia's road transport authority vowed to tighten its road enforcement and enforce checks on the roadworthiness of heavy commercial vehicles in the country.

The fatal pile-up on the North-South Expressway (Plus) in Melaka took place after the front wheel of a southbound lorry became dislodged and landed in the middle of the highway, Alor Gajah district police chief Ashari Abu Samah told local media.

A tour bus on the southbound highway hit the wheel and careened into the northbound side of the highway, colliding with a smaller truck and two cars going in the opposite direction.

The bus driver and five members of a family travelling in one car were killed.

A 66-year-old Singaporean woman who was on the tour bus was also among those who died, and 33 others were injured.

In a statement on Christmas Eve, Malaysia's Transport Minister Anthony Loke expressed his condolences to the families affected by the accident, and vowed action by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) against the operators of the lorry and tour bus.