4 die after lorry hits trailer

The following article was published in the Straits Times on 19 May 2009.

ACCIDENT IN TUAS
4 die after lorry hits trailer
Six others hurt; trailer driver was asleep in parked vehicle at the time
By Teh Joo Lin & Jalelah Abu Baker
May 19, 2009

Reproduced photo caption:The brother-in law (right) of one of the deceased, Pitchaiah Govindaraj, 31, grieving outside the Emergency Department at NUH. -- ST PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW

Reproduced photo caption:Rescuers had to use a hydraulic cutter and two winches to free the body of the front-seat passenger. The lorry was ferrying a group of workers to their workplace at a shipyard at the end of Gul Road at the time.-- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG


HE HAD stopped his trailer at the side of the road for forty winks, and was just drifting off when the 12m-long vehicle wobbled.

Mr Shukor Ayub thought nothing of it, but seconds later, a man appeared at his window, rapping furiously.

Startled awake, he climbed out, and saw carnage.

A lorry ferrying 10 foreign workers had smashed into the back of his massive 22-wheeler. Four men were killed, six others injured.

'I didn't even realise it until someone came and told me,' said the stunned 30-year-old Malaysian.

The only damage to the trailer was a loose wheel.

Comments