KENINGAU, MALAYSIA: A decision by a businessman to check the tyres of his four-wheel-drive vehicle possibly saved his life yesterday.

Just as the 37-year-old man stepped out of his vehicle at Km47 of the Keningau-Kimanis bypass about 4am, the road began to crumble. He scrambled to safety as his vehicle along with about 15 tonnes of debris slid into a 15m-deep ravine.

Police said the man was leading a three-vehicle convoy from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau.

He had driven through debris from another landslide and stopped to check his tyres for damage.

The businessman was unhurt. His car was pulled out of the ravine around noon.

The route which connects the interior and districts south of Kota Kinabalu is impassable and a Public Works Department spokesman said it might take a week before it is reopened.

Police said motorists should use the Penampang-Tambu-nan-Keningau route to travel between the west coast and the interior.