KUALA LUMPUR: The bus involved in a fatal crash in Perak which killed 15 students was “clearly speeding”, the police said, citing dashcam footage.
Survivors of the accident have also said the bus was travelling at a high speed before crashing, though this was denied by the driver, who claimed that the brakes had failed.
Royal Malaysian Police’s Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department said on Tuesday (Jun 10) that the driver, Mohd Amirul Fadhil Zulkifle, has a record of 18 traffic summonses.
Of the 18 offences, 13 were for speeding, three for not wearing a seatbelt and one each for not having a third brake light and being involved in an accident.
“Investigations also found that the bus involved has a record of 21 summonses for traffic offences. 16 summon records against the bus have been settled while the remaining five are still under investigation,” the department’s director Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri told news outlet The Star.
Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke has vowed to take “stern action” once investigations are completed into the incident, which involved a bus carrying students from Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI) and a Perodua Alza multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) on the East-West Highway in Perak on Monday morning.
“The (dashcam) recording clearly shows how the bus was speeding. What made matters worse was when a road barrier penetrated the front of the bus after it toppled over,” said Perak police chief Noor Hisam Nordin on Monday, as reported by local news outlet Free Malaysia Today (FMT).
“This is why passengers seated on the left side of the bus were among those who lost their lives because the barrier penetrated all the way to the passenger seats,” he added.
In a 40-second viral video of the dashcam footage that has circulated on social media, the bus was seen attempting to overtake another vehicle, before veering off to the left side of the road and crashing.
At another press conference on Tuesday, Noor Hisam said that the authorities are seeking a remand order for the bus driver once he is discharged from Taiping Hospital, local media reported. He added that the police have yet to record his statement.
“We will have to wait for him to be discharged before any further action is taken,” Noor Hisam was quoted as saying by The Star.
It was reported earlier that Mohd Amirul, the driver of the bus, suffered injuries to his hand.
Source: CNA
