KUALA LUMPUR: An early morning fatal accident involving a bus carrying Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students and a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) along the East-West Highway near Tasik Banding in Gerik shook the nation.
The crash, which is believed to have occurred between 12.30 am and 1 am, killed 15 students and left 27 other students, the bus driver and his assistant, as well as three passengers of the MPV, injured.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the bus, driven by a substitute driver from another bus company, collided with the MPV before overturning. The bus is also believed to have been travelling at an excessive speed, based on victims’ accounts.
The crash marks the worst in over a decade after the express bus incident in Genting Highlands on Aug 21, 2013, when the bus, carrying 53 passengers, veered off the road and plunged into a 60-metre ravine at Kilometre 3.5 of Jalan Genting.
Thirty-seven lives were lost, and 16 others were injured in the crash, deemed the most devastating bus tragedy in the nation’s history.
Today’s accident reopens the wounds of past tragedies that claimed numerous lives.
On Dec 20, 2010, another tragic incident occurred at Kilometre 15 on the Cameron Highlands-Simpang Pulai Road, involving a tour bus carrying Thai tourists.
The bus allegedly lost control, collided with the road divider, then veered into the opposite lane and overturned into a ditch. Twenty-seven people perished, the majority of whom were foreign tourists, while several others sustained serious injuries.
Three years prior, on Aug 13, 2007, a total of 20 passengers were killed and nine others critically injured after the express bus they were traveling in lost control and overturned at Kilometre 229 on the North-South Expressway (PLUS) near Bukit Gantang, Perak.
Here is a chronology of some of the deadliest bus crashes in Malaysia since 2003:
Nov 23, 2003 -- 14 killed and 30 injured when two buses collided at Kilometre 68 on the Lipis-Merapoh Road near the Pahang-Kelantan border.
April 13, 2009 -- Six died when a double-decker express bus lost control, collided with the road divider, and overturned at Kilometre 443 on the PLUS highway near Rawang, Selangor.
Dec 26, 2009 -- Ten passengers were killed and two others injured, including one critically, when a double-decker bus lost control and collided with the road divider at Kilometre 272.8 on the northbound PLUS highway, near the Ipoh Selatan Toll Plaza in Ipoh, Perak.
Oct 29, 2010 -- Six died, and 21 were injured after a tour bus lost control and overturned at Kilometre 3.8 Genting Sempah on its way down from Genting Highlands.
Oct 10, 2010 -- 12 killed and more than 40 injured in a collision involving two buses, a van, and three cars at Kilometre 223 on PLUS highway near the Simpang Ampat toll plaza in Alor Gajah, Melaka.
Dec 24, 2016 -- 14 perished and 16 others were injured when an express bus plunged down a 10-metre slope at Kilometre 137.3 on PLUS highway northbound near the Pagoh Rest and Recreation Area in Johor.
