KUALA KANGSAR: A landslide along the North-South Expressway near here caused a massive traffic snarl which stretched for more than five kilometres yesterday. 

A 10-tonne lorry was badly damaged after it was hit by tonnes of earth, trees and vegetation in the 10am incident along Federal Route 1 at Km231.6 of the NSE.

"The lorry driver, 56-year-old Tay Hock Kee, was extremely lucky as he escaped with minor injuries," said Kuala Kangsar district police chief Supt Zakaria Pagan.

Tay was on his way from Trong, in Taiping, to a cement factory nearby when the slope suddenly gave way causing tonnes of earth to smash into his sand-laden lorry. 

"Luckily, another lorry managed to stop in time," Zakaria said at the scene yesterday.

Both lanes of the trunk road were covered with earth and tree trunks while Tay's lorry landed on its side on the southbound lane of the expressway.

Due to this, both the trunk road and expressway had to be closed to traffic and a contra flow was activated on the remaining lane.

Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali visited the site.

Meanwhile, state Public Works Department director Datuk Wong Wai Ching said the landslide was caused by water which overflowed from two fish ponds situated at the top of the slope.

Initial findings revealed that the downpour over the past two days might have caused the bunds to break.