SEREMBAN: Twelve people were killed when a north-bound express
bus crashed through the guardrail and ploughed into five vehicles
heading in the opposition direction at KM223.2 of the North South
Expressway near Simpang Ampat here.
Forty-five others were also injured in the 7.45pm accident,
which occured near the Negri Sembilan-Malacca border here
yesterday.
Witnesses said the express bus crashed into the rear of a car
before the driver lost control of his vehicle and rammed through
the guardrail and onto the path of an oncoming bus, two cars and a
motorcycle.
The impact caused the express bus to flip onto its side. The bus
driver and motorcyclist were among the casualties. The oncoming bus
belonged to the Welfare Department.
Apparently, out of the 45 injured, four have been rushed to the
Kuala Lumpur Hospital for treatment, 22 were sent to a hospital in
Seremban and 12 to another hospital in Malacca.
The express bus had left Malacca about 45 minutes before the
accident and was on its way to Kuala Lumpur.
The accident caused a traffic jam stretching for more than 25km
along the expressway.
Of the 12 who died, eight were believed to be passengers from
the express bus.
One of them was decapitated.
Two others were from a MyVi, which was crushed by the bus, and
another from a Honda Accord.
PLUS officials had to divert motorists at the Pedas/Linggi toll
plaza as the south bound lanes were impassable to traffic.
A Plus traffic control centre spokesman said the accident
occurred at about 6km from the Simpang Ampat toll near Alor Gajah,
Malacca.
“The middle and left lanes for the south-bound traffic were
blocked by the vehicles involved in the accident while the right
lane for the north-bound traffic was closed to facilitate emergency
works at the scene,” he added.
Sources said that the department’s bus was carrying delegates
for a gathering of former servicemen, which was attended by Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil
earlier in the day.
“None of them in this bus was injured,” said Malaysia
Ex-Servicemen’s Association Datuk Muhammad Abdul Ghani.
