CJMYThirty seven out fifty three passengers of the bus, which plunged into a ravine near Genting Highlands earlier today have been confirmed dead by the Fire and Rescue Department.
The accident, the worst in 17 years, happened just before 3pm, some four km from the popular resort, which includes the country’s sole casino .
The bus which had 53 people on board was en route to Kuala Lumpur plunged into a 200-foot deep ravine as it made its way down from the resort which is located 55km away from Kuala Lumpur.
The bus driver, who is in his 40s, said to have lost control of the vehicle and crashed through the road barrier before plunging into the ravine. He was one of the casualties.
According to the authorities, there were three foreign nationals among the casualties.
The Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Ahmad Shah, Bentong MP Liow Tiong Lai, Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob and Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Abdul Rahman Dahlan visited the scene and were given a briefing by police.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has expressed his sympathies for victims of the Genting bus tragedy, in which 37 people perished.
“Condolences to the family of the victims. Hope the agencies involved are conducting the best rescue operation,” he tweeted Wednesday night.
List of accidents at Genting Highlands – Karak Highway are as follows;
- 30 June 1995 – 20 people were killed in the landslide at Genting Highlands slip road near Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway.
- 16 July 1996 – A bus, ferrying a group of factory workers and their families on a holiday excursion, plunged into a 120m-deep ravine at km 1 of the Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway near the Genting Highlands Resort, killing 17 of them. Six were children.
- 29 October 2010 – Seven people were killed and more than 20 injured when the bus they were travelling in crashed at the Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway slip roads of the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway near Genting Sempah.
- 21 October 2011 – A man suffered light injuries when the front of his car was hit by a landslide at Km 13.9 of the Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway near Genting Highlands
Jimmy Tan
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