Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Road accident kills 12, injures 73 in Malaysia

A road accident that happened on the North-South Expressway connecting the northern and southern parts of Peninsula Malaysia killed at least 12 people and injured 73 others on Sunday, Xinhua reported.

According to several members of the rescue team, the tragedy took place at about 6:45 p.m. local time, causing massive jam on the road.

The actual scene was located near the Rembau district in Negeri Sembilan, a state in the central part of west coast of Peninsula Malaysia.

A total of twelve ambulances were dispatched to the scene, bringing the dead and the injured to three different hospitals in the states of Negeri Sembilan and Malacca in the southern part of the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia.

Mohd Khalil Yaakob, the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, or Governor, of the state of Malacca, Malacca State police chief and state assembly speaker visited the injured victims at the Malacca Hospital late Sunday night.

A coordinator briefed the state leaders that a total of 85 people were affected in the accident. While 12 had died, the rest suffered different levels of injuries, added the coordinator.

He also said that of the 11 victims admitted into the Malacca Hospital, four were in serious condition, including a pregnant mother.

Police told reporters that an express bus belonging to the Malaysian Welfare Department, three cars and a van were involved in the accident.

The police also said that the identities of the victims were not immediately known.

When met at a hospital here, some rescue team members told reporters that the bumper-to-bumper congestion had obstructed the way of several ambulances rushing to the scene.

They said that by looking at the vehicles' conditions involved in the accident, it was believed that the bus ferrying tens of passengers had lost control on the highway and rammed into the divider.

The strong collision forced the bus into the opposite lanes, causing it to plough with four other vehicles.

However, the police were investigating if the accident was due to the reckless driving by the bus driver, or the technical and engine faults of the vehicle, said the rescuers.

A spokesman from the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department said that the bus collided with a car and overturned after hitting another bus.

The driver of the car trapped under the bus that turned turtle died on the spot, while another van, trying to avoid the express bus, crashed into a car, killing also the van driver immediately

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