ALOR GAJAH: The accident involving an express bus that claimed seven lives and injured 33 others last night occurred after the vehicle crashed into a tyre, which had detached from a trailer and was lying in the middle of the North-South Expressway (PLUS), police said.
District police chief Superintendent Ashari Abu Samah said apart from the tour bus, other vehicles involved in the 8.40pm accident included two trailers, a multipurpose vehicle (MPV) and a car.
Ashari said preliminary investigations showed that the tour bus and one of the trailers were heading northbound when the accident occurred.
"Upon arriving at the scene, the bus slammed into the front right tyre of the trailer had detached and was lying in the middle of the highway.
"The impact of the crash caused the bus driver to lose control of the vehicle, which skidded into the opposite lane and collided with a Perodua Bezza.
"The collision caused the car to swerve into the left lane and hit the road barrier.
"The bus then crashed into another trailer and an MPV carrying a family of eight," he said in a statement last night.
Ashari added that the accident resulted in the deaths of the bus driver, a passenger, and the driver of the Toyota Estima along with four of its passengers, who died on the spot at KM204 of the North-South Expressway (Plus) northbound, near the Ayer Keroh Rest and Service Area (R&R).
He said the remains of all the victims were taken to the Melaka Hospital for post-mortem.
All vehicles involved in the accident have been detained and will be sent to the Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom) for inspection.
"The case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987," he added.
Ashari also said that the authorities have identified five of the seven victims who were killed in the accident.
The identified victims include the 56-year-old bus driver, Noorisnien Khamid from Johor; the MPV driver, Khairul Ikhwan Mazupi, his 32-year-old wife, Fadzlenna Ramli; their youngest child, Muhammad Umar, 2; and Fadzlenna's father, Ramli Ab Wahab, 56.
The authorities, he said, are still in the process of confirming the identities of the two remaining victims, one of whom was a passenger on the bus and the other a passenger in the MPV.
Khairul Ikhwan and Fadzlenna's two other children, aged 4 and 7, are currently receiving treatment in the Red and Yellow Zones of the hospital.