KUANTAN: An express bus that was on its way to Kuala Lumpur flipped over on the East Coast Expressway, leaving scores of passengers injured.
Temerloh OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Aziz Salleh said the driver was believed to have lost control of the vehicle, causing it to hit the road divider on the right before overturning and landing in a ditch at KM116.
He said the 28 people onboard, including the driver, were rushed to the Temerloh hospital after the 1.15am incident yesterday.
“Six passengers have been warded,” ACP Abdul Aziz said. “Two men, aged 28 and 39, as well as an 11-month-old baby boy suffered serious injuries,” he added.
ACP Abdul Aziz said six others, including the bus driver, had been placed under observation while 16 passengers were given outpatient treatment.
The police, he said, was not discounting the possibility that the driver might have dozed off at the wheel.
“The bus was not being driven very fast and the stretch is not an accident-prone area,” he pointed out. “We believe the accident is due to carelessness,” he said, adding that alcohol and drug tests would be conducted on the driver.
Passenger Maerzad Nazmi Mohd Nasir said he felt the bus wobbling. “And then it overturned,” said the 25-year-old.
Another passenger Nashriq Kamaruddin, 21, also said the bus swayed from left and right before hitting the divider.
“I think the driver may have dozed off,” he said. “I thought it was a punctured tyre at first because the bus was going straight before it suddenly veered to the right.”
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