KOTA KINABALU: A Bugis driver escaped without injury despite his 10-tonne lorry somersaulting several times before plunging 50 feet into a ravine near Kg Bambangan, Inanam, Tuesday.
According to him, he survived because he held onto the steering wheel. The 27-year-old, who requested anonymity, said he had just finished eating sahur and was driving to Sepanggar from his home in nearby Kg Minintod when the incident occurred at about 6am.
He said he somehow lost control of the lorry before it veered off the road, The lorry tilted and turned over several times before coining to a halt.
“Fortunetly I held on to the steering wheel ... if not maybe I would have been thrown out and crushed under the lorry.” he said.
The man, who has about seven years’ of experience driving a lorry, said he crawled out of the vehicle thereafter and climbed to the main road where he sought help from a passer-by. Meanwhile, woman was not so lucky when she suffered injuries to her leg after her Proton Savvy ended on its top near the Kota Kinabalu International Airjrtirport.
The 22-year-old, who had intended on making a turn into the by-pass leading to Lido, claimed that because the area was unlit she misjudged the junction and made an early turn, which in fact led to a construction site at about 1.15am.
Panicking, she lost control of the car and it crashed into an enbankment before flipping over. She contended the mishap would not have occurred if there were road signs warning motorists to watch out for the construction work going on in the area.
