GERIK: "I woke up when I heard the driver shouting angrily. I don't know what he was angry at but the bus started swaying from side to side and then overturned."
This is what Farhana Ab Aziz remembered after she survived the horrific accident where 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students were killed at KM53 of the East-West Highway here on Monday (June 9).
Farhana, 23, said she heard noises from the driver's seat and saw he appeared to be angry before the bus sped up and became unstable.
"When the bus departed from Jertih, I fell asleep. But around 12.45am, I woke up because I heard the driver mumbling angrily.
"It wasn't clear why he was angry – whether it was the bus' condition or at a car in front – I'm not sure," she said when met by reporters at Gerik Hospital, reported Sinar Harian.
Farhana said some other students who were awake also tried to see what was going on.
Shortly after, she said, the bus started to sway and then overturned.
"Many were unconscious. My friends and I who were awake quickly looked for an exit.
"I was afraid of stepping on others," she said.
Another student, Rohadatul Aisy Mohd Zaki, 20, said she realised the bus was speeding after she was awaked by her friend seconds before the crash.
"I was thrown into the aisle. It was cramped and a friend tried to help me but I couldn't get up.
"After a few minutes, I managed to gather enough strength to get out of the bus," she said.
In the incident around 1am on Monday, 15 students died while 27 others were injured.
The 40-year-old bus driver and his 54-year-old assistant were also injured.
The accident is believed to have occurred when the bus collided with the rear of a multi-purpose vehicle before going out of control before overturning and crashing into the guardrail on the left of the road.
A family of four in the MPV survived with injuries and were treated at Baling Hospital in Kedah.
