JALAN Kuala Kangsar-Taiping has been closed to all traffic following a landslide at 10am yesterday.

Kuala Kangsar police chief Supt Zakaria Pagan said a lorry driver cheated death when he was caught by the landslide at Bukit Berapit, near Kuala Kangsar.

The lorry driver, in his 40s, made a miraculous escape after his lorry was swept away by the landslide.

"The landslide happened so fast it was such a shock. The lorry was swept to the North-South highway next to the Federal road. The weather was fine at that time," he added.

The lorry was the only vehicle trapped by the landslide. Another lorry laden with sand managed to brake in time.

Zakaria said Jalan Ipoh-Kuala Kangsar was closed to all traffic to allow clearing work.

It is closed at Padang Rengas in the south and at Bukit Gantang in the north. One south-bound lane at Km231.6 has also been closed.

Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has asked the ministry's slope engineering division to investigate the landslide.

He said its director and several engineering officers had been sent to check the site.

"I have asked for a full investigation to find out what caused the landslide," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.