Road accidents happen every day but there has been a significant number of container-related accidents recently.
Unfortunately, most of these accidents involved fatalities. The Ministry of Transport has also taken action against the company of the container lorries that caused deaths and damages in the accident. Here are some of the tragic accidents that happened recently and in previous years.
1. 21-year-old woman crushed by container in Penang (2024)
On November 13 in Penang, an accident involving 5 vehicles, namely 3 cars and 2 lorries including a trailer trapped 2 victims under an overturned container.
A 25-year-old male victim was successfully removed from under the container but unfortunately, 21-year-old Lee Zi Rou did not make it. She was confirmed dead by medical personnel at the scene.
The driver of the trailer was arrested by PDRM to assist in the investigation and if found guilty, he will be facing jail time of 2 years and a fine of not more than RM20,000.
2. Rider in Johor dies in freak accident (2024)
2 days after the accident in Penang, another freak accident involving a trailer carrying a 40-ton container took place at Kilometer 69.5 of the North-South Expressway near Machap, Johor.
The 33-year-old victim, who is the rider of a Yamaha MT09 motorcycle was pronounced dead at the scene by a team of medical officers. The lorry driver, on the other hand, sustained no injuries.
2 other victims were also injured in this accident but they managed to get treatment in the hospital.
3. A father of just 4 months was struck by a container in Klang (2024)
Muhammad Alhafiz Abdul Rajak was struck by a container while on duty around the North Port area here on November 20. He became a father just 4 months prior. He leaves behind a wife and a baby boy.
The victim’s younger brother, Muhammad Raffi, 32, was surprised to receive a call from the management of Pelabuhan Utara at about 9:30 AM.
“I understand that the deceased was on duty looking at containers at the scene of the incident.”
According to Kosmo, Raffi rushed to the hospital and confirmed that the deceased was indeed his brother. Klang Utara police chief S Vijaya Rao confirmed yesterday’s incident, saying the case had been classified as sudden death.
4. 52-year-old man was crushed by a container while buying food in Klang (2023)
A container without a top overturned and crushed a man to death while he was in his vehicle. The 52-year-old victim was pronounced dead at the scene, reported Sinar Daily.
Astro Awani reported that the container was placed by the roadside for loading purposes. The victim parked his vehicle next to the container to get food from a nearby restaurant but noticed the container was slanting and decided to move his car elsewhere. As he was about to do so, the container overturned and crushed his car with him inside.
PDRM said the sloped and sinking condition of the ground, caused the container to lose stability.
5. Container falls from a flyover in Port Klang (2022)
Going back to April 2022, a container carrying recyclables fell 40 feet from a flyover onto the road below in Port Klang.
No deaths were reported in this incident, although it crushed one lorry below and caused another to collide with the fallen container, as per a report by Berita Harian.
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department, however, could not determine what caused the fall. The first lorry driver was also sent to the hospital for further treatment, and the driver from the second lorry was successfully removed from the wreckage.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family members of the victims.
