THE year 2013 saw its share of major accidents. Overall most of the cases in the State involved road accidents while there were some that occurred at sea.However, one which had a big impact happened on Oct 10 when a co-pilot and a passenger were killed while six people were injured after a MASwings Twin Otter plane crashed while attempting to land at 2.50pm at the Kudat airstrip, about 150km from Kota Kinabalu.
The crash claimed the life of co-pilot, Marc Joel Bansh 23, besides a 96-year-old passenger, Tan Ah Chai.
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Bansh, died from multiple head and body injuries at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Kota Kinabalu at 9.05pm.
He was flown from Kudat to KK about 6.30pm for further treatment and was warded at the QEH intensive care unit.
The DHC-6 Twin Otter 9M-MDM aircraft which was carrying 15 Malaysians and one Filipino on a flight from Kota Kinabalu overshot the runway while trying to land and crashed into a house at Kampung Sin-San at about 2.50pm.
A woman and her 11-year-old son who were in the living room escaped unhurt.
The air crash is the second in the State involving a commercial aircraft after the 1995 Malaysian Airlines Fokker 50 crash that claimed 34 lives in Tawau, including two crew.
On March 12, a soldier who was a passenger died when a military truck driver lost control of the truck he was driving resulting in a road accident which occurred around 7.30am on Km37 of the Lahad Datu-Tanduo road.
On March 16, a Standard One student from Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Tanjung Papat II Sandakan drowned after the boat she boarded capsized in the waters of Berhala Island here.
At the time of the incident, Noor Suhana Jusly, 7 and her friends were going back home from school but in the middle of the journey the boat's engine malfunctioned leading to boat to capsize due to high waves.
On June 20 a man was killed and nine others injured when the Pajero they were in plunged into a 200-foot ravine along Jalan Kokol Menggatal while they were on their way back to Kg Tombongon after visiting their 78-year-old mother at a clinic in Menggatal town.
Doukin Sabin, 51, was in the vehicle with nine family members aged between 30 and 50, when the tragedy happened at about 4.30pm.
They were said to be heading uphill when the driver suddenly lost control of the vehicle, causing it to skid before crashing into the ravine.
The impact caused Doukin, who was a passenger, to sustain severe injuries, killing him on the spot.
Strong winds which lashed the State on July 16 caused two vehicles to be damaged when a Toyota Rush driven by a 28-year-old crashed into them at about 10am along Jalan Kolombong, near City Mall.
The Toyota driver was heading towards Bundusan from Inanam when he lost control of his vehicle due to strong winds, causing him to skid before crashing into the two vehicles on the opposite lane.
The Myvi driven by a 34-year-old man and the Kelisa vehicle driven by a 28-year-old man were believed to be heading toward Inanam when it happened.
On July 23, a bus conductor was killed while an Immigration Department officer was injured in an accident that involved three buses at Km 22 Jalan Semporna-Tawau.
The three buses were in a convoy transporting 120 illegal immigrants who were due to be deported to their country of origin from the Tawau Detention Centre to the jetty here when the accident happened at about 11.30am.
Mohd Azman Samsudin, 17, from Kampung Sri Jaya here succumbed to serious injuries in the pile-up while the Immigration officer was sent to the district hospital for medical attention.
On Aug 23, a student was killed while 21 others injured when a school van crashed into a cement mixer along Km50 Jalan Sandakan-Lahad Datu near Kampung Ulu Dusun.
The victim, a secondary school student, succumbed to injuries at the scene while five of the injured, were in critical condition.
Prior to the afternoon accident, the van driver was sending the students aged between 13 and 16 years old, to Mile 30 in Sandakan from their school in Kinabatangan.
On Aug 18, three people were killed when the Proton Saga vehicle they were on, collided with a three-ton lorry at Km 24, Jalan Kunak-Semporna.
The deceased were Amran Juma 56, Zuhan Amil, 26, and Ajun Ibrahim, 35.
It was believed that the trio were heading towards Semporna from Kunak when car driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to skid into the other lane before crashing into the lorry which was carrying palm oil.
The impact caused the driver and Zuhan who was sitting in front to get trapped in the damaged vehicle, while Ajun who was sitting behind was thrown five metres away.
On Aug 29, five people, including three policemen, died in a road accident at Km35, Jalan Beluran-Telupid.
In the 4.50pm incident, a car carrying four policemen collided with a four-wheel-drive vehicle driven by a man with four women passengers.
The three policemen killed were Cpl Saudi Meting, 48, Cpl Hedzrin Ginan, 36, and Lance Cpl Khairul Firdaus Abrahim, 25.
Another policeman, Constable Mohd Zaini Mohd Razwan, 28, who was seriously injured, was sent to Beluran Hospital for treatment.
Saudi and Hedzrin were traffic policemen while Khairul and Mohd Zaini were with the patrol unit.
The two women in the four-wheel-drive killed were identified as sisters, Masiah Jailani, 47, and Layni Jailani, 45.
The four-wheel-drive driver, Arry Ak Gani, 24, was seriously injured while two other women in the same vehicle, Imawati Siru, 20, and Regnawati Siru, 22, sustained light injuries.
All the dead victims died at the scene and their bodies were sent to Beluran Hospital.
On Oct 12, a 29-year-old auxiliary policeman was killed when a Nissan Navara vehicle rear-ended his motorcycle at a traffic light junction along Jalan Kepayan.
The man, identified as Jass Azvy Jasly from Kg Beringgis, Papar, was apparently riding his Honda EX5 motorcycle towards Putatan from Kota Kinabalu when the12.30am accident happened at the tra ffic light junction near the Kota Kinabalu International Airport Terminal One.
It was learnt that the Nissan vehicle was headed in the same direction.
The impact of the collision caused the motorcycle to be flung some 15 metres away, killing the motorcyclist instantly.
On Nov 10, a local man was killed in an accident involving a Proton Saga car and a lorry along Jalan Keningau-Tenom at about 11.30pm at Km 8.
The deceased Chan Soon Loi @ Michael, 42, from Kampung Meninipir Keningau, succumbed to injuries at the scene after the Proton he was driving towards Tenom from Keningau collided with the lorry.
The three-tonne Isuzu lorry, driven by a 40-year-old local man with a passenger, was heading from Tenom to Keningau.
Initial investigation showed the accident occurred due to the victim losing control of his vehicle and swerving into the right lane before colliding with the lorry. The impact of the collision caused the victim's vehicle to be dragged to the left side of the road shoulder facing Tenom direction.
The victim was trapped in his wrecked car while the lorry driver and passenger suffered only minor injuries.
On Dec 6, another fatal train accident occurred along the railway line between Bongawan and Beaufort.
In the 11.30am incident, a 17-year-old motorcyclist was rammed into by an oncoming train when he attempted to cross the tracks.
The incident was the second fatal railways crossing incident in the state for 2013.
On June 19, a Hong Kong tourist was killed while another three were injured when the car they were travelling in was rammed into by a train, when they attempted to cross the railways along the Jalan Lintas, while rushing to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.
