IPOH: The owner of the bus involved in the crash that claimed the lives of 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students along the East-West Highway (JRTB) near Tasik Banding, Gerik, last Monday, has given a statement to the police.

Acting Gerik district police chief DSP Muhammad Firdaus Abdullah said the bus company owner turned up at the Gerik district police headquarters at 10.30 pm yesterday.

“The bus owner spent about an hour and a half giving a statement regarding the accident,“ he told Bernama today.

Yesterday, Perak police chief Datuk Noor Hisam Nordin said that so far, statements have been recorded from 18 witnesses, including several UPSI students involved in the crash.

The 15 UPSI students were killed when their chartered bus, travelling from Jertih, Terengganu, to the university’s main campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak, overturned in a collision with a Perodua Alza.

The crash also injured 33 others, including the bus driver and attendant, as well as the driver and three passengers of the Perodua Alza.