Bus crash in northern Malaysia kills 10 and injures 2

A bus skidded off a highway and crashed into a barrier in northern Malaysia early Saturday, killing 10 people and injuring two others.

The vehicle spun out of control and slammed into the metal barrier that tore through the lower tier of the double-decker bus, a Perak state police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press

All the victims were Malaysians and seated on the lower deck. 38 others on the bus were not injured.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known. The bus was heading from central Selangor state to the northernmost state of Perlis, which borders Thailand.

Malaysia has a high-quality highway system with a speed limit of 70 miles (110 kilometers) per hour, but speeding is common and many drivers often do not follow safety procedures.

Xinhua adds

The driver who was behind the wheel of a highway coach tragedy happened in Saturday morning near Malaysia’s northwest city of Ipoh had been detained for investigation, Malaysian national media Bernama reported on Saturday.

A double—decker express coach heading to the north on the North— South Highway, the main road linking northern and southern ends of the Peninsular Malaysia, skidded onto the road barrier on the left and veered to the divider on the right before coming to a halt at one o’clock in the morning, the report said, citing a local traffic police officer.

He said that among the 48 passengers on board, 10 died and two others were injured, while the two drivers and 36 other passengers were unhurt.

He noted that the 12 dead and injured people had been seated on the lower tier of the bus when the coach—hit metal barrier on the left side of the road pierced into the bus, which was believed as the main reason for the tragedy.

The police had detained the driver who was on duty at that time since some passengers claimed him looked drowsy then, said the report.