Operator killed when heavy vehicle plunges down slope
Borneo Post Online, 20 September 2013
FATAL PLUNGE: The wheel loader at the base of the hill following the incident. Bernama photo.
BAU: A heavy machinery operator was killed while another man was seriously injured in a freak accident at a quarry at Paku yesterday after the vehicle they were in fell off a slope and landed on its roof.
The deceased has been identified as 41-year-old Thomas Johin of Kampung Sibuluh here.
The incident happened around 9am when Thomas and two mechanics were negotiating a hill at the site using a wheel loader after earlier inspecting a broken-down excavator.
The wheel loader was said to have suddenly experienced mechanical problems of its own, resulting in Thomas bringing it to a halt before putting it into reverse.
At that moment, however, the vehicle slipped and plunged about 20 metres down the hill slope and landed on its roof.
Thomas died on the spot from serious head and body injuries, while one of the mechanics, a 24-year-old man, was seriously wounded.
He was initially sent to Bau hospital before being transferred to the Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching for further treatment.
The second mechanic, a 44-year-old man, managed to jump off the wheel loader moments before the fatal plunge and sustained only minor injuries.
Local firemen were summoned to the scene to extricate Thomas’ body from the wheel loader, while a police team led by district chief DSP Mohd Sabri Zainol was also there to investigate the incident.
