3 days ago
UPSI students say bus was speeding before fatal crash
Dashcam footage showed the bus swaying before toppling over and crashing.
PETALING JAYA : Several Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students who survived the bus crash in Gerik, Perak, claim that the vehicle was speeding before the fatal accident occurred.
Farhana Ab Aziz, 23, said she heard a commotion coming from the front of the bus before the crash which killed 15 students.
She added that the driver also appeared to be angry, Utusan Malaysia reported.
Several passengers who were not asleep tried to check on what was going on before the bus started swaying, she was quoted as saying when met at Gerik Hospital.
'I was asleep and woke up around 12.45am. At that moment, I looked at the bus driver and he appeared to be angry, though it is not clear who he was angry with.
'The bus was speeding and swayed before it toppled over,' Farhana was quoted as saying.
Nur Irdina Huri, 22, also claimed that the bus was speeding and swaying as it headed down the winding, downhill road. She added that she was not asleep when the crash occurred.
'Everything happened so fast, and I couldn't help any of my friends because it was pitch black,' she said.
Rohadatul Aisy Zaki, 20, said she was sleeping when her friend woke her up because the bus was moving so fast. When the crash occurred, she was thrown out of her seat to the aisle.
'Before the bus crashed, I smelled what seemed like a burnt smell, but I'm not sure what was the cause,' Rohadatul said, according to Utusan.
Siti Nur Najihah Shihabuddin, 21, said she and her friend had also smelled the smoky odour, believing that it came from outside the vehicle.
Asleep at the time, Siti was only jolted awake when the bus started swaying.
A video of dashcam footage showed the bus purportedly speeding as it overtook a car. It then started swaying, before toppling over and crashing.
Thirteen UPSI students died at the scene and two at the hospital.
A special task force, comprising the police, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros), road transport department (JPJ), Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) and other relevant agencies has been set-up to investigate the crash.
Earlier, the firm that operated the bus said the vehicle was recently serviced and the driver had a good track record and was considered a responsible driver.
