2 dead, 3 Singaporeans injured in accident on Malaysia highway involving tour bus to KL

SINGAPORE - Three Singaporeans escaped with minor injuries after a traffic accident on Malaysia’s North-South Expressway which left a Malaysian and an Indonesian dead.

The bus they were travelling in collided with a car on Monday at around 5am at the 285.5km mark of the highway, around 1km before the rest stop in Nilai, a police official from the city in Negeri Sembilan told The Straits Times.

The two who died were identified as a 42-year-old Indonesian woman and the 33-year-old Malaysian driver of the LA Holidays express bus that had started its journey in Singapore and was headed for the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan bus station in Kuala Lumpur. There were also passengers from the Philippines, Spain, Canada, India and China on the bus.

The three Singaporean passengers are Mr Ghazali Mustaffa, 69; his son Muhammad Siddiq Ghazali, 35; and Mr Low Jah Seng, 25.

The Malaysian driver of the Proton Wira sedan was not injured but his wife, who is seven months pregnant, was taken to hospital with minor injuries. They were also headed northwards towards Kuala Lumpur.

Five out of the 19 passengers on the bus were seriously injured, said a spokesman for the Nilai district police.

Mr Low, who was going to Kuala Lumpur to meet his girlfriend and her family for a holiday, said he was asleep when the bus collided with the car.

Speaking to The Straits Times from Kuala Lumpur after getting discharged from hospital on Monday afternoon, he said: “I woke up only after the bus came to a stop. Everyone was in a shock.

“I feel relieved to be walking away from the accident with minor bruises on my knee and back as compared with others with more serious conditions.”

Mr Low was able to record several short video clips in the aftermath of the crash. In one of them, a male passenger with a bloodied arm can be seen standing outside the bus. Two dead passengers can also be seen on the road, which has broken glass strewn all over it.

In photos provided by Malaysia’s fire and rescue department, the white bus – whose front exterior was destroyed – and the dark red sedan were seen left in a ditch by the side of the road. Rescuers tended to bodies and survivors.

Local media reported traffic congestion stretching up to 14km on the expressway.

Operators for the LA Holidays express bus service, run in conjunction with the KKKL Travel and Tours office in Singapore, declined to comment on the accident.

The police in Malaysia said investigations are ongoing. A traffic police inspector said preliminary investigations show that the bus driver lost control of his vehicle, leading to the bus running into a pole before colliding with the car.

A post-mortem examination is under way to see if the driver had consumed alcohol and drugs.

Bus ticket booking websites show the bus company offering multiple night trips from numerous pick-up points in Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.