KOTA KINABALU: A mother and her toddler were killed when the vehicle they were in crashed into a hill along the accident-prone Kimanis-Keningau road in Papar, about 60km from here.

       The 36-year-old mother, who was holding her one-year-old son in the front passenger seat, died at the Papar district hospital several hours after the 6.15pm accident on Wednesday.

       The boy is believed to have been thrown out of the multipurpose vehicle.

       The driver and three others were also injured, and had been admitted to the district hospital.

       Papar district police chief Deputy Supt Batholomew Umpit said the victims, from the same family, were travelling from interior Keningau to Papar.

       Based on initial investigations, he said the driver, who is the husband of the deceased, was taking a corner downhill during heavy rain and lost control of his vehicle, which spun several times before crashing onto the side of the hill.

       “We believe the child held by the mother might have been thrown out of the vehicle,” he said, adding that the boy died on the spot.

       The other passengers were a 12-year-old child and two women in their 20s.