2 dead, 3 Singaporeans injured in tour bus accident on Malaysia highway

SINGAPORE - Three Singaporeans escaped with minor injuries after a traffic accident on Malaysia's North-South Expressway which left a Malaysian and an Indonesian dead.

The bus they were travelling in collided with a car on Monday (July 10) at around 5am at the 285.5km mark of the highway, around 1km before the rest stop in Nilai, a police official from the city in Negeri Sembilan told The Straits Times.

The two who died were identified as a 42-year-old Indonesian woman and the 33-year-old Malaysian driver of the LA Holidays express bus that had started its journey in Singapore and was headed for the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan bus station in Kuala Lumpur.

There were also passengers from the Philippines, Spain, Canada, India and China on the bus.

The three Singaporean passengers are Mr Ghazali Mustaffa, 69, his son Muhammad Siddiq Ghazali, 35, and Mr Low Jah Seng, 25.

The Malaysian driver of the Proton Wira sedan was not injured but his wife, who is seven months pregnant, was taken to hospital with minor injuries. They were also headed northwards towards Kuala Lumpur.

Five out of the 19 passengers on the bus were seriously injured, said a spokesman for the Nilai district police.

In photos provided by Malaysia's fire and rescue department, the white bus — whose front exterior was destroyed — and the dark red sedan were left in a ditch by the side of the road. Rescuers tended to bodies and survivors.

Local media reported traffic congestion stretching up to 14km on the expressway.

Operators for the LA Holidays express bus service, run in conjunction with the KKKL Travel and Tours office in Singapore, declined to comment on the accident.

The police in Malaysia said investigations are ongoing.

Bus ticket booking websites show the bus company offering multiple night trips from numerous pick-up points in Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.

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