Malaysians risk lives in rush for spilled coins

AFPJanuary 19, 2011, 2:41 p
m

Malaysian motorists risked their lives to scoop up thousands of coins spilled on a highway after the vehicle carrying the currency overturned, reports said Wednesday.

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AFP ©Malaysian motorists risked their lives to scoop up thousands of coins spilled on a highway after the vehicle carrying the currency overturned, reports said Wednesday.

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KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) -

Malaysian motorists risked their lives to scoop up thousands of coins spilled on a highway after the vehicle carrying the currency overturned, reports said Wednesday.

Dozens of people abandoned their cars along the side of the North-South Expressway, one of the country's main transport arteries, and frantically filled their pockets, helmets and plastic bags with the coins.

The melee caused a traffic jam on either side of the overturned four-wheel drive vehicle, which left 70,000 ringgit (nearly $23,000) in coins strewn across the road on Tuesday.

"Fortunately, both of us escaped with minor injuries," said 28-year-old driver Zairulhisham Mansor, who along with a friend had been transporting the coins to shops in the resort town of Malacca.

The New Straits Times said that the coin-hunters ignored police demands to clear the road.