GERIK: The crash that killed 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students occurred at KM53 of the East-West Highway, at a stretch that is on a downhill slope and is winding and dark, say police.
Perak police chief Comm Datuk Noor Hisam Nordin said the highway is mostly unlit except near the Tasik Banding bridge, Perak.
“It is a dark and winding stretch,” he said at the Gerik district police headquarters yesterday.
Comm Noor Hisam said 27 other students in the chartered bus were injured, with the 40-year-old bus driver and 54-year-old co-driver also sustaining injuries.
There were a total of 44 people in the bus.
Comm Noor Hisam said 13 students died at the scene and two others at Hospital Gerik.
The mishap occurred between 12.30am and 1am yesterday, when the bus travelling from Terengganu to Tanjung Malim, Perak, rammed into the rear of a multipurpose vehicle. He said both vehicles were heading in the same direction towards Gerik.
The students, aged between 21 and 23, are believed to be from the east coast region.
“The bus, registered in Kedah, had been chartered to transport 42 UPSI students, comprising eight males and 34 females, back to their campus after the Hari Raya Aidiladha break.
“The road condition was good and it was not raining, but the stretch was winding and unlit.
“Initial investigations suggest the bus lost control and crashed onto the back of the MPV,” he said, adding that the MPV was occupied by a couple and their two children, a three-year-old boy and six-year-old girl.
Comm Noor Hisam said all four family members were injured and received treatment at Hospital Baling in Kedah.
“The bus driver, who suffered an arm injury, has yet to provide a statement,” he added.
Thirteen bodies were sent to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh.
“Identification and gender confirmation of the victims have yet to be made,” he said, adding 23 of the injured students were females.
The injured are receiving treatment at hospitals in Ipoh, Baling, Gerik and Taiping, he added.
The bus departed Jerteh in Terengganu at 9pm on Sunday and was scheduled to arrive in Tanjung Malim early yesterday morning.
