00:00A 45-year-old lorry driver was charged at the Magistrates' Court in Teluk Intan on
00:07Friday with dangerous driving that caused the deaths of nine Federal Reserve Unit personnel
00:14in a tragic crash earlier this week.
00:16The accused, Rudi Zulkarnain Matradi from Kampungkota, Hilir Perak, pleaded not guilty
00:22to nine counts of dangerous driving before Sessions Court Judge Norhamiza Shaifuddin.
00:29For the first charge, Rudi is accused of driving a lorry dangerously and causing the death
00:34of S. Perumal, 44, at Kilometre 15 Jalan Sungai Manik in Hilir Perak at around 9.05am on May
00:4213.
00:44The remaining eight charges relate to the deaths of Mohamed Roslan Abdrahim, 46, Mohamed Posli
00:50Jowdin, 41, Nurit Pandak, 34, Amiruddin Zabri, 38, Mohamed Hilmi Mohamed Azlan, 38, Mohamed
01:01Akmal Mohamed, 35, Damarulan Abdul Latif, 33, and Akmal Wafi Anuar, 28, all of whom died at
01:10the same time and location.
01:12The charges fall under Section 41, Subsection 1 of the Road Transport Act, 1987, which carries
01:19a penalty of five to ten years in prison, a fine of up to 50,000 ringgit, and a minimum
01:24five-year driving license suspension upon conviction.
01:28The Court granted bail at 6,000 ringgit for all charges and imposed additional conditions
01:34as proposed by the prosecution.
01:37The case has been fixed for mention and appointment of counsel on June 17.
01:41Meanwhile, police have called the owner of the lorry company to give a statement to assist
01:46in the investigation.
01:47Hilir Perak District Police Chief ACP Dr. Bakri Zainal Abidin said the owner is among 15 witnesses
01:55interviewed so far.
01:56He added that investigators are looking into multiple angles, including driver negligence, environmental
02:02factors, and vehicle maintenance.
02:05Police are also urging eyewitnesses or anyone with dashcam footage of the incident to come
02:10forward as no such recordings have been submitted yet.
02:15The crash occurred when a lorry carrying gravel veered into the opposite lane and collided with
02:21a truck transporting 18 FRU Unit 5 members.
02:25They were returning to base in Sungai Sinam, Ippo, after completing duties for the Chitra Purnami
02:31Festival in Teluk Intan.
02:34Eight officers died at the scene, while a nine succumbed to injuries at Teluk Intan Hospital.
02:39Nine others were injured, several critically.
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