Tour bus travelling on Malaysian highway ploughs into back of lorry
By
Teo Cheng Wee, Regional Correspondent
The front of the bus, which was carrying 26 Singaporeans and two Malaysians, was completely smashed IN. -- PHOTO: SIN CHEW DAILY
KUALA LUMPUR - A SINGAPORE woman died on Sunday evening in a Malacca hospital, after the tour bus she was travelling on crashed into a lorry on the North-South highway.
Ms Kelly Wong Sook Heng, 48, was travelling to the Cameron Highlands for a weekend getaway when the accident happened at 1am on Saturday in Malacca.
After overtaking a lorry on the two-lane road, the bus rammed into the back of another lorry while making its way back into the left-hand lane, Malaysian police told The Straits Times.
The impact was so severe that the bus was dragged by the lorry for 50m, said Deputy Superintendent Che Suza Che Hitam, of Jasin, Malacca.
The front of the bus, which was carrying 26 Singaporeans and two Malaysians, was completely smashed in.
However, the driver survived. The driver of the lorry, which was transporting maize from Johor to Ipoh, also escaped unhurt.
The bus trip had been organised by Singapore tour agency Superior Coach and Tour for a group of employees with DKSH Technology - a multi-national marketing and distribution services provider - and their families.
The tour group departed from Singapore on Friday evening. After clearing immigration, the group members spent about two hours shopping in Johor Baru and left at 11pm.
The overnight ride was supposed to get them to the Cameron Highlands by Saturday morning. Witnesses said most of the passengers were asleep when the accident happened.
Within an hour, six of the Singaporeans were sent to Malacca General Hospital. All of them had been discharged by on Sunday, except Ms Wong, who was warded in the intensive care unit.
discharged.
Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.
