RANAU, Jan 25 — A trailer truck driver was buried alive when the vehicle, loaded with concrete electric poles, plunged into a 50-meter ravine along Jalan Kampung Nabalu, here on Thursday.

Ranau fire and rescue station chief Ridwan Mohd Taib said the station received information of the incident at 8.40am and a team was dispatched to the location.

Investigation revealed that the 30-year-old driver was transporting about 70 concrete electric poles when he allegedly lost control of the wheel before the truck plunged into the raving.

“The driver was buried under the truck and we initially used special tools to dig the soil to try to free him but to no avail.

“After several hours without any success, a crane was brought from Kota Kinabalu to assist with the operation.

“We only managed to free the victim from under the soil and truck at around 2.50am the following day (January 24),” said Ridwan, who was at the scene during the 18-hour operation.

The victim’s body was handed to the police for further action and the operation ended around 3.12am today. — The Borneo Post