Monday October 11, 2010
‘Bus was going way too fast’, claim passengers
SEREMBAN: The express bus, which crashed into a guardrail and rammed onto the path of oncoming vehicles near the Simpang Ampat toll plaza, was going very fast at the time of the accident.
Nurshazwina Nordin, 23, who was onboard the bus, said she was almost flung out of the vehicle due to the impact.
“Other motorists who stopped to help us hurried us away from the bus as they were afraid it might explode,” she said, adding that she had been sleeping when the accident took place.
Nurshazwina, who was hurt, said she felt the bus was going fast prior to the accident.
Another male bus passenger, in his 20s, claimed that the bus was accelerating before the accident.
Emergency aid: Paramedics rushing a victim to the hospital Sunday.“I thought he was driving fast for an express bus. I can’t say for sure the speed he was driving at but he seemed to be ahead of all the other vehicles,” he said.
Another injured passenger Nur Najlaa Aqilah Mohd Ghazali, 19, said a loud bang woke her up.
“I felt the bus spinning and before I knew it, we had already crashed through the guardrail and onto the path of oncoming traffic,” she said.
Among the injured was a Japanese tourist, Masatamo Yashade, believed to be a passenger of the ill-fated express bus.
Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital director Dr Ja’afar Che Mat said as at 10.30pm, 24 of the injured had been sent to the hospital for treatment.
He said 16 of the injured in the hospital were females.
“We sent one victim to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital as he suffered from heart ailment. Three others were taken in for immediate surgery,” he said, adding that nine others were sent to the Malacca Hospital.
Dr Ja’afar said the hospital had also sought assistance from personnel at the Port Dickson, Kuala Pilah and Jelebu hospitals.
“We needed more ambulances due to the high number of injured,” he said, adding that the first case was brought in at 8.05pm.
In Malacca Hospital, it is believed that out of the 12 injured being treated there, four are in critical condition, including a 42-year-old woman who is a four and half months pregnant.
The three others suffered from serious spinal, abdominal and head injuries.
It is believed that as at 1.45am, authorities were still trying to identify the bodies, some of which were badly disfigured.
The 52-year-old bus driver, from Klebang Besar, is one of those killed.
Monday October 11, 2010
12 killed in horror crash near NS-Malacca border
Reports by SARBAN SINGH, C. S. NATHAN, MARTIN CARVALHO and FLORENCE A. SAMY
SEREMBAN: Twelve people were killed when a north-bound express bus crashed through the guardrail and ploughed into five vehicles heading in the opposition direction at KM223.2 of the North South Expressway near Simpang Ampat here.
Forty-five others were also injured in the 7.45pm accident, which occured near the Negri Sembilan-Malacca border here yesterday.
Witnesses said the express bus crashed into the rear of a car before the driver lost control of his vehicle and rammed through the guardrail and onto the path of an oncoming bus, two cars and a motorcycle.
The impact caused the express bus to flip onto its side. The bus driver and motorcyclist were among the casualties. The oncoming bus belonged to the Welfare Department.
Grim scene: Rescue personnel looking for trapped victims in the wreckage near the Simpang Ampat toll plaza at the Negri Sembilan-Malacca border Sunday.Apparently, out of the 45 injured, four have been rushed to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for treatment, 22 were sent to a hospital in Seremban and 12 to another hospital in Malacca.
The express bus had left Malacca about 45 minutes before the accident and was on its way to Kuala Lumpur.
The accident caused a traffic jam stretching for more than 25km along the expressway.
Of the 12 who died, eight were believed to be passengers from the express bus.
One of them was decapitated.
Two others were from a MyVi, which was crushed by the bus, and another from a Honda Accord.
PLUS officials had to divert motorists at the Pedas/Linggi toll plaza as the south bound lanes were impassable to traffic.
A Plus traffic control centre spokesman said the accident occurred at about 6km from the Simpang Ampat toll near Alor Gajah, Malacca.
“The middle and left lanes for the south-bound traffic were blocked by the vehicles involved in the accident while the right lane for the north-bound traffic was closed to facilitate emergency works at the scene,” he added.
Sources said that the department’s bus was carrying delegates for a gathering of former servicemen, which was attended by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil earlier in the day.
“None of them in this bus was injured,” said Malaysia Ex-Servicemen’s Asso ciation Datuk Muhammad Abdul Ghani.
