BATU PAHAT: Three people were killed when an express bus lost control before hitting the road divider and overturned at KM 107.2 near Yong Peng of the North South highway this afternoon.
The victims were identified as Mohd Sofwanul Hakim Mohd Zaidi, 21, his cousin Mohd Amirul Asyraff Yaakub, 23, and Mohammad Zikri Othman, 10.
The bus was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Baru when the accident occurred at 2.10 pm. There were 19 people on the bus at the time of the accident, including the driver.
Seven of the passengers suffered serious injuries and were sent to the Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital in Muar for further treatment while the remaining eight passengers and the driver, who escaped with minor injuries, were taken to the Sultanah Nora Ismail Hospital here for treatment.
Among the passengers were five Indonesians and one Filipino.
Filipino Ruby Santos, 28, said she was stunned when the other passengers started to scream as the bus started to shake violently before overturning on the left side of the highway.
"I was thrown out of the bus through the front windshield, injuring my leg in the process," said Santos.
Witness Amil Ibrahim, 41, who was driving to Kuala Lumpur from Yong Peng, said he saw several victims lying by the side of the wrecked bus.
"I managed to help some of the victims, who were crying and suffering cuts and bruises."
Batu Pahat police chief Assistant Commissioner Din Ahmad said the cause of the accident is still being investigated and the case has been classified under Section 41 of the Road Transport Act.
In another accident, a motorcyclist and his pillion rider were killed after they collided with a car at KM89.1 (northbound) of the highway.
The victims were identified as Mohd Lokmanul Hakim, 17, and Faik Muzaffar, 15, who is the grandnephew of Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi. They both died at the scene in the 3.15 pm accident.
Aziz said the victims were on their way to Segamat when they fell from their motorcycle after colliding with a car that had stopped on the emergency lane to change a flat tire.
"Before they could get up, another car travelling behind them crash into them causing them to suffer serious injuries, killing them on the spot," said Aziz.
It is understood that the two victims were on the way home from Johor Baru after watching the football match between Johor Darul Takzim and Perak.
- New Strait Times
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