Honda Motor Co. has confirmed that two recent fatal crashes in Malaysia involved the ruptured airbag inflators made by Takata Corp.
According to a statement released by the Japanese car manufacturer, the crashes took place on 16 April and 1 May in Sabah and Kedah, respectively. The crashes were linked to the problematic driver-side airbag inflators made by Takata, and both vehicles involved were included in recalls announced by Honda Malaysia.
Honda Malaysia spokesperson Jordhatt Johan told Bloomberg: “Honda Malaysia is working with the local authorities to get the database of current owners of these cars and communicate with them on the recall.”
The official cause of the recent deaths has yet to be determined, but it’s the third of its kind in Malaysia since 2014. The first death involved a pregnant woman who died after a collision set off the airbag, which ruptured and fired a metal shard into her neck.
This brings the total death toll due to the faulty airbag to 13 worldwide.
