JOHOR BARU, Nov 28 — A driver of a three-tonne lorry and his attendant were killed when the machine skidded and veered from its path before crashing into the rear of a stalled trailer at  Kilometre 158.7 of the North South Expressway (north bound), near Bukit Gambir, Tangkak here today.

Bukit Gambir Fire and Rescue Station chief  Nurashid Mamat said the driver was identified as  E. Gunaseelan, 31, while the identity of the attendant had yet to be ascertained.

Both of them died at the scene, he added.

He said a third person travelling in the lorry, believed to be a colleague of the victims, was seriously injured and was sent to Tangkak Hospital for treatment.

"The  Fire and Rescue Department received a distress call at 7.10am, following which 19 firemen in two Fire Rescue Tender (FRT) vehicles and two vehicles from the Emergency Medical Rescue Service (EMRS) unit from the Bukit Gambir and Tangkak fire and rescue stations were despatched to the scene.

The firemen had to use special tools to remove the three victims from the wreckage, he said in a statement today.

He said the bodies of the two victims were handed over to the police for further action. 

On the trailer driver, he said, the 35-year-driver was not injured. — Bernama