GEORGE TOWN, Sept 28 — A lorry driver died when the lorry he was driving crashed into a road sign that later fell onto the lorry and crushed him fatally at Persiaran Paya Terubong 2, near here today.

During the 3pm incident, S. Kumaravelan, 48, who was driving a lorry had crashed into a pillar of the road sign and the impact saw the road sign collapse on the lorry, pinning the driver who was behind the wheels, to death.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department operations officer Khairul Anuar Abd Rahim said the department had received an emergency call at 3.20pm and a rescue team was immediately dispatched to the scene from the Paya Terubong Fire and Rescue Station.

"Upon arrival, firefighters saw that the road sign had collapsed onto the lorry and the impact had pinned the driver inside the vehicle. Firefighters used rescue tools to extradicate the driver from the wreckage as he was pinned to his seat by the fallen sign board.

"The driver was extradicated at 3.46pm and a medical team at the scene pronounced him dead,” he said when contacted today.

Khairul said the body of the driver was later handed to the police who sent him to the Penang Hospital for a post-mortem. — Bernama