Semanggol accident: Victims brought in by syndicate, say police

All the Myanmar nationals who were involved in the accident at 190.6km of the North-South Expressway near Gunung Semanggol earlier today were believed to have been brought in by a syndicate.

Kerian district police chief Omar Bakhtiar Yaacob said a preliminary investigation found that all the foreigners had just entered the country, believed with the help of a syndicate operating in the northern states.

“To conduct further investigations, police would have to seek the help of interpreters from Myanmar as the injured victims could not converse in Malay or English,” he told a press conference in Bagan Serai today.

In the 8am incident three Myanmar nationals were killed, seven seriously wounded while four others sustained minor injuries.

Omar said the police were in contact with the Myanmar embassy to facilitate the repatriation of the dead bodies. 

He said a special task force is now tracking down the driver and front seat passenger of a multi-purpose vehicle who had fled the scene, adding that the 57-year-old vehicle owner from Kampar has 16 traffic summonses.

- Bernama