KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — Twenty-five passengers faced anxious moments when the express bus they were travelling in skidded and overturned at Jalan Damansara, here, last night.
A Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said following a distress call at 12.17am, 18 personnel from the Hang Tuah and Sentul fire and rescue stations were rushed to the scene.
“Upon arriving at the scene, the rescue team found that the accident involved a double-decker express bus that was travelling from Ipoh, Perak.
“The rescue team had to break the windscreen of the bus to remove all the victims,” he said when contacted today.
The victims suffered only minor injuries and were sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, here, for further examination.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Azmi Abu Kassim said the first and second drivers of the double-decker bus were taken for questioning at the city traffic police station and released at 4.45 am after police recorded their statements.
He said blood and urine samples of the two drivers were also taken for toxicology tests by the Department of Chemistry.
The case was investigated under Section 43 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, he said when contacted today.
According to him, the incident occurred at about 12.05 am, when the driver of the bus, which was carrying 24 passengers from Ipoh, Perak to Singapore, lost control of the wheel, causing the vehicle to crash into the concrete road divider before it overturned.
He said 19 passengers were injured and they were taken to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for treatment. However, the two bus drivers and five passengers escaped injury in the crash.
He urged witnesses of the incident to contact the Jalan Tun H.S Lee Traffic Police Station at 03-20719999 or the Kuala Lumpur Traffic Hotline at 03-20260267/69 or any nearby police station to facilitate investigation.
— Bernama
