The coach they were travelling in crashed into a trailer near Malacca before dawn yesterday.

There were no fatalities.

The coach run by travel agency Alisan carried 26 passengers - of which more than half were Singaporeans.

Many of them were hurt, said Mr Seow, a 45-year-old traffic enforcement officer. One woman broke her pelvic bone.

He said: 'The impact of the crash was so great that we were all thrown off our seats. It was pitch black in the coach and people were shouting and screaming.'

He and his wife were asleep when the accident happened.

Mr Seow had a deep cut on his chest, as well as cuts all over his body. His wife's legs were cut by glass shreds.

Mr Leong Sing Kiong, Alisan's managing director, said it was raining heavily when the accident happened on the Ayer Keroh highway.

He added that there were two drivers on the coach, which was bound for Genting Highlands and Kuala Lumpur.

The one who was driving when the accident occurred was a Malaysian in his 30s.

According to the driver, the trailer had suddenly swerved into the coach's lane, Mr Leong said. Both the two drivers were slightly injured.

The tour company will make a full refund of the coach fare and also pay the hospital bills of those injured in the collision, said Mr Leong.

The injured passengers were sent to a hospital in Malacca, but the Seows later took a taxi to Singapore's National University Hospital for further checks.

Mr Seow was discharged yesterday evening after receiving outpatient treatment.

'It was a traumatic experience, but at least we walked out alive,' he said.

theresat@sph.com.sg

carolynq@sph.com.sg