11 Singaporeans injured in fatal Malaysia bus accident near KL on Saturday
KUALA LUMPUR - One person was killed and 13 others, mainly Singaporeans, were injured when their bus rammed into another vehicle near Kuala Lumpur on Saturday (April 7).
A spokesman for the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department said it received a distress call at about 3.30pm concerning an accident involving a bus and a lorry on the Karak-Kuala Lumpur Expressway, Bernama news agency reported.
The accident involved 11 Singapore nationals – aged between 19 and 81 – and the driver and the bus conductor who are Malaysian. The driver of the lorry was also hurt in the accident.
Most of the Singaporeans, including an 81-year-old woman, suffered light injuries, according to Malaysian police.
All the injured were sent to Selayang Hospital in the Gombak district of Selangor state for treatment, the spokesman said.
Singaporean Yip Keng Yim, 19, told Bernama news agency: “It happened so fast and everybody was thrown off their seats.”
She was with her parents, a cousin and an aunt on the bus. They were on their way home from Genting Highlands.
“Since boarding the bus, I was not able to sleep because the bus was being driven at high speed. Suddenly I heard a loud crash, and then everybody fell off their seats,” said Ms Yip at Selayang Hospital.
Ms Yip, who suffered injuries to her face, said her father sustained a serious leg injury.
Photographer Kong Chong Yew said he was driving to Genting when he noticed a massive jam on the other side of the highway where the accident occurred.
The accident, which occurred at the Karak-Kuala Lumpur Expressway, involved a bus and a lorry. PHOTO: KONG CHONG YEW
The front of the bus had slammed into the back of the lorry, said the 32-year-old, adding that there were many people gathered around the accident spot when he drove past.
“The windscreen was already gone, and the left side of the bus was badly damaged.”
It is believed that the driver lost control of the bus, which rammed into a gravel lorry, trapping the conductor who has been identified as Mr Carles Lagan, 26, near the front of the mangled bus, China Press reported, citing Gombak district police. He died on the spot.
When contacted on Saturday by The Straits Times, hospital staff at Selayang Hospital said they could not provide the media with updates on the status of the injured.
The accident came after another bus crash near Genting Highlands on Friday (April 6), in which 23 people, including 16 Chinese tourists, suffered light injuries.
In March, one Singaporean was killed and several others injured in a bus accident in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, when they were carrying out their minor pilgrimage.
