By Jaythaleela K
MIRI, June 22: A 10-wheeler truck was destroyed after it caught fire along the Miri Coastal Road, about 1km from the Sepupok junction this morning.
It was understood that the truck was transporting 200 25kg-bags of fertiliser for oil palm plantations and 250 bags containing rodenticide to Batu Niah.
“We were heading for Batu Niah from Sibu, and upon reaching the area, one of the rear tyres (left side) suddenly caught fire,” disclosed the truck’s driver who wished to be identified as Walter.
He added, prior to the incident, several vehicles that they had passed by or behind them suddenly began giving signals.
“At first, I though they wanted to overtake the truck, so I gave them way, until I reached Sepupok, then I realised something was not right with the tyres because my co-driver and I had saw a huge blaze coming out from one of the rear tyres,” he said.
Walter immediately pulled over and grabbed a fire extinguisher stored inside the truck to attempt to put out the fire to little effect.
Both Walter and his co-driver were unharmed in the 9am incident.
Meanwhile, Bomba Miri acting chief Supt Ahmad Nizam Sapaiee said, five firefighters from Batu Niah fire station were deployed to the scene upon receiving an alert at 9.07am about the fire.
They managed to extinguish the flames and the operation ended at 10.15am. — DayakDaily
