Cops hunting for another suspect in 'runaway' lorry tragedy

The Star, Friday, 15 January 2016

by nicholas cheng

KAJANG: The investigation into the runaway lorry which killed two students outside SMK Bandar Damai Perdana has taken a new turn.

Investigators are looking for one more suspect, who they said may have ‘stolen’ the parked lorry and lost control of it, leading to the crash on Thursday.

On Friday, police obtained a seven-day remand order against the Indonesian lorry driver, who parked the unregistered vehicle on a hilly slope near the school.

Kajang OCPD Asst Comm Willey Richard said while police were still investigating the lorry driver for culpable homicide, investigations revealed that the lorry may have been parked much further up the hill than initially reported.

“The incident happened when the driver parked the Nissan lorry on the curb of the left side of the road to have a lunch break. 

“A few minutes later, it is believed the lorry was stolen by an unknown person who drove it about a kilometre down the main gate of the construction site to try and get it out of the area,” he said.

The school is about 200 metres down the road from the construction site’s main gate.

ACP Willey said the unknown person may have lost control of the lorry and caused it to roll down the hill and crashing into the row of parked cars, motorcycles before ploughing into a van which killed students Wong Siow Xuen and Lau Zi Xin.

The accident also injured hawker Norhaslidalini Hamzah, a female driver and five other students.

“We have several witnesses who confirmed that they saw a person fleeing from the lorry after the crash. They tried to apprehend him but the suspect managed to escape. We are now hunting for the man who attempted to steal the lorry and we call on anyone with information on this person to contact us,” he said.

ACP Willey’s statement was similar to eyewitness accounts of several parents at the school who contradicted earlier police statements that the lorry was unmanned.

Earlier, a school security guard known as Siti told police she saw unknown persons entering the parked lorry and “meddling” inside it.