Gerik crash: Initial probe reveals bus hit MPV's rear
The police's initial investigations have revealed that the fatal bus accident, which claimed the lives of 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (Upsi) students, occurred when the bus hit the rear of the multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), believed to be a Perodua Alza, before overturning.
Perak police chief Noor Hisam Nordin said the bus was carrying 42 Upsi students, eight men and 32 women, aged between 21 and 23, all from the east coast.
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Free Malaysia Today
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- Free Malaysia Today
School told to prepare report on teacher's remarks on UPSI bus crash
Perak executive councillor for education Khairudin Abu Hanipah said the district education office contacted the school's principal, and a counsellor was sent to instruct the teacher to remove the post. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : The Perak education department has directed a secondary school to submit a full report over a teacher's social media post about the bus crash that killed 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students. State executive councillor for education Khairudin Abu Hanipah said an initial investigation confirmed that the teacher, whose remarks in a Facebook post sparked outrage online, is employed at the school. 'As an educator, I deeply regret the actions of this individual, who made inappropriate remarks regarding the tragic incident involving the UPSI students,' Bernama quoted him as saying. The post, made under the name 'Khalid Yunus', claimed the students had 'died in disgrace' and were 'not among the faithful' because they allegedly owed money to the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN). Khairudin said the district education office contacted the school's principal immediately after the post went viral, and a counsellor was sent to request the teacher to remove the content. A check at 8.10pm yesterday confirmed that the post had been deleted, he said. The teacher has since apologised publicly, claiming that he suffered from schizophrenia. The fatal crash occurred early Monday morning at Km53 of the East-West Highway near Tasik Banding, Gerik, when the students' bus overturned.
Sinar Daily
7 hours ago
- Sinar Daily
Gerik crash: Bus operator's permit revoked
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New Straits Times
8 hours ago
- New Straits Times
NST Leader: Why these endless road tragedies?
It has happened again, just as road safety experts had warned. Fifteen lives were lost on Monday in a collision between a tour bus ferrying Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris students and a Perodua Alza multipurpose vehicle on the East-West Highway in Gerik, Perak. Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah has decreed improvements to law enforcement. The authorities must follow the royal decree to the letter to avoid such tragedies. The mangled remains of what was once a tour bus are not just a tragic image of the past; they might be images of many futures if the authorities keep doing the same thing. We are told that the Road Transport Department (JPJ) is conducting a safety inspection, and an audit on the express bus and its operator. Let's be blunt: this is after the fact. For sure, such audits will arm the authorities with evidence to make every individual, from the operator to the driver, accountable should they be found to have broken any laws. But conducting an audit is one thing, and acting on the findings is another. Just like discovering that the tour bus had 21 traffic summonses and the driver 18 and still allowing both to be on the road. From Aug 13, 2007, to Nov 5, 2022, there have been seven major bus crashes that claimed 124 lives. Were audits conducted on these buses and their operators? If so, how many operators have been charged in court or had their businesses suspended? With tragedies like this happening with troubling frequency, the people have the right to know. But JPJ must not stop at the audit of the tour bus and its operator. It is time for JPJ to go on a nationwide inspection and audit of all heavy vehicles and their operators. Transport Minister Anthony Loke has told the media that the tour bus had no seat belts for passengers. To discover this after a tragedy is a tragedy itself. Had an audit been done, the bus operator could have been compelled to install seat belts even though the bus was built before the seat-belt law came into force. There shouldn't be an exception for passenger buses. The minister also told the press that dashboard cameras and speed limiters are in the process of being made mandatory. The "in the process" is troubling, to say the least. We have heard this before from a former transport minister. Nothing happened. But what happened were tragedies after tragedies. Operators will resist, because more trips mean more profits. If the aim is to save lives, then the authorities must throw the statute book at them. The fear appears to be that such devices can easily be disabled by the operators as the owners of lorries are already doing it to speed limiters and Global Positioning System. But that should not be a reason for not installing the devices. The law is there; just haul the operators to court. Operators who allow their heavy vehicles to turn into killer machines must be put out of business. Period.
