14 university students killed in Malaysia bus crash

A bus carrying university students back to their campus smashed into a minivan in northern Malaysia on Monday, killing at least 15 people, police and rescue services said.

Thirteen victims died at the scene near the town of Gerik, on the busy East-West Highway near the Thai border, while two died in hospital.

The accident is the deadliest in more than a decade on Malaysia's hazardous roads and came as students were returning to school after an Islamic public holiday over the weekend.

"It looked like the bus had lost control and hit the (minivan) from behind," Perak State Police Chief Hisam Nordin said, based on initial investigations.

Images from the scene taken by the fire and rescue department showed a green bus overturned on its right side with a smashed rear end cover, while the red minivan had slid into a ditch, with its windows blown out.

"Some victims managed to get out on their own, some victims were thrown out while others were still (trapped) in the bus," the Perak state disaster management authority said in a statement.

Rescuers had to use a hydraulic cutter to free people from the bus.

The death toll included 14 students from the Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI), while the last victim was a bus attendant, the emergency services said.

Thirty-three others were injured, with seven in critical condition taken to hospital, it added.

Police chief Hisam later said some of the injured were discharged. The number of injured still in hospital was not known.
Most of the victims were aged between 21 and 23. They were travelling from the town of Jerteh in northeast Malaysia when the accident happened shortly after 1:00 am (1700 GMT on Sunday).

"The journey was fine until I suddenly smelled something like burnt rubber or brakes," said Wan Muhammad Hanifah Wan Azman, 22, an animation student at UPSI.

"The bus then sped up and swerved to avoid a car ahead before flipping over," Wan Muhammad Hanifah told the New Straits Times daily.

'Everything went black'

"It all happened so fast. One moment we were on the road, the next everything went black. When I opened my eyes, people were crying and calling for help. Bodies lay everywhere -- some bleeding, some motionless," he said.

Hisam said officers were investigating whether the crash "involved human negligence or if it was a technical issue."

Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ordered the Higher Education Ministry to help the victim's families and said he and his wife Azizah were "deeply saddened" by the tragedy.

"Heartbreaking disasters like these that are repeated often should be a lesson to all to be careful and not to rush," Anwar wrote on Facebook. "Your lives are too precious and can't be replaced," he added.

Malaysia has a high rate of traffic accidents, with an average of 18 people killed on the roads each day, according to government figures.

The East-West Highway, which connects the two seaboards of the Malaysian peninsula, is plagued by accidents, with frequent collisions between animals and vehicles.

Malaysia worst bus disaster happened in 2013 when an express bus plunged down a ravine northeast of Kuala Lumpur, killing 37.

Agence France-Presse