KUALA LUMPUR: A bus that plunged into a ravine, killing 37 in Malaysia’s worst-ever road accident, was overloaded according to reports yesterday that indicated the vehicle had been banned from the roads and that foreigners were among the casualties.
Authorities say the express bus was carrying 53 people when it veered off a busy and treacherous mountain road Wednesday, tumbling into a deep gully and scattering dead and injured on the mountainside.
Survivors have been sent to hospitals. Malaysian media said Chinese, Indonesian, Bangladeshi and Thai nationals were believed to be among the dead and injured.
Staff at Hospital Kuala Lumpur said that one Korean and one Canadian national were among the dead brought there, but authorities have yet to provide a full breakdown.
Housing and Urban Wellbeing Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan was quoted as saying the vehicle’s capacity was 44.
Authorities speculated that the driver lost control on a tight bend but cautioned that investigations were still underway.
AFP
