TAPAH, 25 Nov 2008: An express bus driver and a passenger died while 16 passengers were injured when the bus they were on crashed into a trailer carrying cement about 3km from the Sungkai toll plaza early this morning.
Tapah police district chief, Supt Roslan Bek Ahmad, said the dead were driver Mohamad Nizam Wong Abdullah, 24 from Taman Sejati Indah, Sungai Petani, Kedah and Muhammad Aliff Farhan Yacob, 17 of Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur, who was seated at the front of the bus in the 2.30am incident.
“Early investigations reveal that the Cepat Express bus driver may have nodded off causing the bus to crash into the trailer at KM355.6 of the North-South Expressway heading south,” he told reporters here today, adding that the bus was heading for Melaka from Changlun, Kedah.
“The collision caused Mohamad Nizam to be flung out of the bus and onto the road while Muhammad Aliff was wedged between the two vehicles.
According to Roslan Bek, the 16 injured passengers were treated for light injuries at the Slim River Hospital before continuing their journey in a replacement bus.
He said the bus in the accident was believed to not have a co-driver and police were checking its past records.
He said the trailer driver Annuar Mahbut, 31 of Taman Desa Nilai, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan was uninjured and police had recorded his statement. — Bernama
