A 60-year-old Singaporean man was killed after a tour van he was travelling in collided with a trailer lorry in the Malaysian state of Sabah on March 11.

The van was travelling along Jalan Semporna-Tawau in Sabah’s Semporna district on the east coast when the accident happened.

Sabah Fire and Rescue Department’s Assistant Fire Superintendent Riki Ramday told The Straits Times on March 11 that his team was alerted to the accident at 4.03pm and a team from the Emergency Services Support Unit rushed to the scene.

Other than the Singaporean man, a 40-year-old Vietnamese woman also died in the accident.

Four other Singaporeans in the van, including an 11-year-old girl, were injured and taken to hospital, Mr Riki added. Their injuries range from brain haemorrhage to an elbow fracture.

The van driver suffered a suspected brain haemorrhage.

The 29-year-old lorry driver escaped unhurt, but has been remanded to assist with police investigations, Semporna district police chief superintendent Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah told ST on March 12.

Mr Farhan said the group of Singaporeans are close friends. They work as taxi drivers in Singapore.

He added that the Vietnamese woman who died is one of the men’s wife. The 11-year-old girl is her daughter.

“It was their second day in Sabah. The group (of six) just flew in from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau, and they were travelling to Semporna when the accident happened,” Mr Farhan said, adding that the town is famous for diving and snorkelling activities.

“Those injured are still admitted in the hospital but their conditions are stable.”

Preliminary investigations by Mr Farhan’s team revealed that the trailer lorry had lost control and entered the opposite lane before it collided with the tour van.

Fragments from the vehicles then shattered the front windshield of another oncoming lorry.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on March 12 that it has been rendering consular assistance and support to the affected Singaporeans and their families.

“Officials from the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur have been in close contact with the Sabah authorities and are in Tawau to provide further assistance.

“MFA extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wishes the injured Singaporeans a smooth and speedy recovery,” the ministry said.