Bus from Genting plunges into ravine, killing 37

KUALA LUMPUR — A bus travelling from the hilltop gambling resort of Genting Highlands to the capital, Kuala Lumpur, plunged 60 metres into a ravine yesterday, killing 37 people in what has been described as Malaysia’s worst road accident, the local media reported.

Rescuers gave the death toll as police dog units searched the undergrowth in the ravine for survivors of the accident, which happened just before 3pm, said The Malaysian Insider.

The police said the bus was believed to be overloaded. Bentong police chief Mansor Mohd Nor said it was carrying 53 people, exceeding its maximum load capacity of 48, excluding the driver, who died in the accident.

The 16 passengers rescued have been sent to hospitals in Selayang and Kuala Lumpur. Some of them suffered severe injuries, said the authorities.

More than 200 firefighters, police and medical officers used ropes and cranes to reach the bus, as the ravine is inaccessible by road.

The Genting Highlands road has seen its share of fatal bus accidents but this is said to be the worst along that stretch and in the country since Hari Merdeka, Malaysia’s Independence Day, on Aug 31, 1957, The Malayian Insider reported.

Before yesterday’s crash, the country’s worst accident in the past 10 years occurred near Cameron Highlands on Dec 20, 2010, when 28 people were killed after a double-decker bus overturned. AGENCIES