For the first time ever, glamorous and grandeur of Sani Express bring to an end (for a while). For records, Sani Express is now lined up with Naeila Express (Dissolute) and Mutiara Express that carved into Malaysia’s most horrifying bus driving, that claiming huge fatality, indeed. I’ve traumatic and dramatic experience when forced to be Sani Express’ passengers. But, what happened in North-South Expressway on Boxing Day were merciless and unforgiving. Ten passengers were killed and two others injured when a double-decker Sani Express bus skidded and hit the road divider at Km 272.8 of the North-South Expressway, 8km after the Ipoh Selatan toll plaza, at 1am. Mutilated bodies were sprawled on the road and in the lower deck of the bus, some decapitated while others with their limbs torn apart due to the massive impact.
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The driver had been behind the wheel of the bus, which started its journey from Klang at 9 pm yesterday for Kangar, with 46 passengers. Less than an hour before the accident, the bus driver had stopped at the Tapah rest and service area (RSA) along the highway for a toilet break. The driver continued the journey as the co-driver was apparently supposed to take over at the Sungai Perak RSA, about 70km from the Tapah RSA. Of the 12 passengers on the left side of the lower deck, only two survived with injuries. One received outpatient treatment while the other suffered a broken rib cage and was warded at Ipoh Hospital. The passengers seated on the right side of the lower deck, the driver and his assistant, and those on the top deck were unhurt. To the truth, the bus had skidded onto the road barrier to the left and veered to the divider on the right before coming to a halt. The metal barrier on the left side of the road pierced the left side of the bus, and this was probably what caused the deaths and injuries.The bus driver admitted that he had dozed off just before the accident.
PREVIOUS DEADLY BUS TRAGEDIES:
30 Nov 2003: Memorable Post-Eid mishaps involving Mutiara Express bus and a school bus at Jalan Kuala Lipis-Merapoh, Pahang that killed 15 passengers.
Aug 2007: The infamous Bukit Gantang bus crash on the North-South Expressway claimed 22 lives, including the driver. Syarikat Kenderaan Bukit Gantang Sdn Bhd's entire fleet of 38 buses was grounded.
April 2008: One person was killed and 16 injured when the express bus they were in crashed into safety railings and overturned at Km265.1 of the North-South Expressway, at 3.45am. The bus was carrying 27 passengers from Johor Baru to Kuala Lumpur.
June 2008: Two people were killed and seven others seriously injured when the express bus they were in overturned after hitting a divider at Km406 of the North-South Expressway near Lembah Beringin. Dec 2008: An express bus driver lost control of his bus near Tangkak-Pagoh stretch on the North-South Expressway at 2am. Four men, four women and two girls, aged 9 and 12, were killed. April 2009: Five passengers and the driver of a double-decker express bus died, and five others were injured after the bus skidded and hit the divider at Km443 of the North-South Expressway near Rawang.
*Drivers should be sent for proper training so they will park by the side of the road if they are sleepy. This measure could help reduce accidents involving express buses. The lives of passengers are more important.
