A tragic accident occurred yesterday (May 13) in Teluk Intan, Perak, involving a PDRM Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) truck and a stone-laden lorry, resulting in the deaths of nine FRU officers.
Hilir Perak District Police Chief ACP Dr Bakri Zainal Abidin said the lorry driver was detained that morning, while Perak Police Chief Datuk Noor Hisam Nordin confirmed that the suspect has a history of criminal convictions.
The driver has a rape conviction and a drug-related offence
According to Utusan Malaysia, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the 45-year-old lorry driver has six prior criminal records, including a rape conviction, one drug-related offence, and four theft cases.
“Urine tests came back negative for drugs. Claims that ketum was found in the lorry were also proven false.”
The suspect is currently in custody and being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
9 other injured officers are still receiving treatment
Meanwhile, Perak Police Chief Datuk Noor Hisam Nordin said the incident happened as seven FRU vehicles were returning to Ipoh after completing duties for the Chitra Pournami festival in Hilir Perak.
The lorry, loaded with stones, crashed into the fifth vehicle in the convoy, which was carrying 18 officers.
“The convoy consisted of seven vehicles (two four-wheel drives, four lorries, and one bus). The vehicle that was hit was fifth in line. The deployment followed FRU’s standard SOP: one day to travel, one day for duty, and one day to return,” he explained.
He added that nine injured officers are still being treated at Teluk Intan Hospital’s emergency unit. Two are in the red zone (critical), while the other seven are in the yellow zone.
Noor Hisam said post-mortems on the nine fallen officers began at 2:30 PM and were expected to be completed by 8:00 PM.
“Once the autopsies are done, the bodies will be brought to the Hilir Perak District Police Headquarters for funeral prayers, before being taken to the FRU Unit 5 Headquarters in Sungai Senam, Ipoh, for final respects. After that, the remains will be sent to their respective hometowns,” he said.
Stay tuned for more updates!
