Slip sliding away down slope

A horrified crane driver could do nothing but watch as his stalled vehicle rolled backwards before crushing a car and ramming into a house here.

Asrol Hisham Baharom, 36, said he was driving along Jalan 17/21 when the engine stalled while it was on a slope.
He slammed on the brakes when the crane started to move backwards. To his shock, the brakes failed to respond.
“I tried to stop it. But the crane kept moving backwards,” he added.

As Asrol looked behind from his cabin, he realised that the crane was rolling into a nearby house.

“I tried to steer the crane into a tree beside the road but there was another car in the way – and I could not do anything,” he said.

The crane crashed into a silver Toyota Camry behind it. The car with two occupants inside were dragged into the side of the house at a corner lot.

While the car was wrecked, its 58-year-old driver sustained only minor injuries to his hip, hand and head.

He was pulled out by Fire and Rescue Department members and sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for treatment. His wife, who was beside him, was unhurt.

House owner Giam Wei Li, 31, said she and her family members were about to go out for breakfast when she heard a loud bang.

“I found the car crushed underneath the crane – and my house wall and storeroom were destroyed,” she said, adding that the house was renovated two years ago.

“I’m glad no one was in the storeroom,” she said, adding that she usually did her washing in that room in the mornings.

“The damage is bad, but I am glad nobody died,” said Giam, who has lived at the house with her family for the past 30 years.

Another motorist, who didn’t want to be identified, said she was directly behind the crane that was slowly moving up the slope.

“The crane then started moving backwards towards my car,” she said.

“Luckily, the driver was quick enough to steer it away from all the cars behind it,” she said, adding that the crane moved backwards for about 50m before it crashed into the terraced house.

Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operations Mohamad Sani Harul said firemen arrived at the scene at 9.40am after receiving a distress call.

Mechanics later came to repair the crane.

The Star (20 May 2016)