Puspakom has submitted its findings on the recent deadly crash involving five vehicles on the PLUS highway in Melaka to the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) for further action, but the inspection remains incomplete as the dislodged lorry tyre that was the accident’s root cause could not be located, Bernama reports.
Puspakom CEO Mahmood Razak Bahman said the report only covered the inspection of the vehicles involved because the dislodged lorry tyre that caused the whole incident could not be traced.
The investigation found that the detached tyre could have been caused by a stub axle failure on the lorry’s front axle. However, Puspakom inspectors were puzzled, as the Foton EST 430 lorry involved in the crash is relatively new, having been manufactured in 2023 and was last inspected back in March 2024.
“The inspection and investigation that we conducted for MIROS is incomplete even though the report was sent to the authorities today (Jan 2, 2025).
“This is because we could not find the tyre that was dislodged. So, Puspakom was unable to inspect the (condition of the) tyre, which should have been sent with the vehicles,” the Puspakom CEO said at a press conference at Puspakom Shah Alam yesterday.
Prior to this statement, Transport Minister YB Anthony Loke was reported to have ordered the Road Transport Department (JPJ) to investigate the cause of the deadly crash and take appropriate action against the lorry and bus companies involved.
Said crash has taken seven lives away and injured 33 others, with a total of five vehicles involved, including a tour bus, two lorries, a car, and an MPV at KM 204 of the PLUS highway in Ayer Keroh, Melaka, back in Dec 23, 2024.
This is also not the first time Puspakom has been under scrutiny in recent weeks, as the entity’s integrity was previously questioned after two of its staff were investigated by JPJ over alleged commercial vehicle inspection wrongdoings. Besides JPJ, both the Transport Ministry (MoT) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) are also working together in this investigation.
