THEY left early when floods hit south Thailand, but could not escape disaster on the roads.

Mr Dominic Chan Yip Choong, 40, a Singaporean, died when he crashed his motorcycle into an overturned lorry in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The accident happened near the Simpang Empat toll plaza - near Malacca - on the North-South Highway.

Mr Chan was riding ahead of his three biker friends - all Malaysians working in Singapore - who were some distance behind him on two motorbikes.

It was dark

It was 3.45am and the road was dark.

Mr Chan reportedly did not see the overturned lorry ahead until it was too late.

He crashed straight into it and died on the spot, China Press reported.

One of Mr Chan's friends told the Malaysian newspaper that he immediately stopped his bike and dragged Mr Chan out from underneath the lorry before both vehicles caught fire.

The lorry, which was carrying car batteries, was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Baru when a tyre punctured.

The driver lost control of the vehicle and it overturned.

The 35-year-old lorry driver and his passenger were trapped in the vehicle and had to smash the windscreen in order to escape. They were not injured.

It is not known when this accident happened.

Mr Chan's friend, 30, said the group had gone to south Thailand last Thursday and had originally planned to return to Singapore on Tuesday night.

But they changed their plans and decided to head back a day earlier because of the floods that hit south Thailand on Monday night.

This was not their first trip together. They had often travelled together on biking trips. Their friendship was forged based on their common interest in riding 1,000cc bikes.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Dec 04, 2008.