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Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Bus driver in Gerik crash apologises, blames ‘faulty brakes'
Amirul Fadhil Zulkifle said while the students seated at the front may have understood him, most at the back were asleep and could have interpreted his warnings as an outburst. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : The driver in the fatal bus crash that killed 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students yesterday has apologised to their families, claiming that the incident occurred due to a brake malfunction. Amirul Fadhil Zulkifle, 39, said the brakes malfunctioned when the bus reached the elephant crossing bridge at Gerik, although the vehicle had been in good condition upon its departure from Terengganu. 'I was trying everything I could, but none (of the bus's brake systems) were working, including the handbrake. Even the gears of the bus could not be changed,' Harian Metro quoted him as saying. Amirul said others on the road might have seen him cutting past vehicles and speeding, but claimed he was doing so to minimise the damage and avoid colliding with other vehicles. 'The last vehicle I cut past had a dashcam, and by then I was doing my best to mitigate the situation,' he said. He claimed that, upon realising the failure of the brakes, he immediately shouted for the students to take cover and prepare for impact. Amirul also said that while the students seated at the front may have understood him, most at the back were asleep, and could have interpreted his warnings as an outburst. Local transportation think tank MY Mobility Vision said his description matched common failure modes in buses with air brakes, and called for a critical forensic investigation of the bus's systems to determine the cause behind the tragedy. In a statement, the think tank said the accident might be symptomatic of a larger problem with Malaysia's road infrastructure, as evidence indicated that the guardrails had penetrated the bus cabin, posing an even larger risk to its passengers. 'Every guardrail on a federal highway must perform to standards, particularly the MASH TL-3 specifications that Malaysia has committed to adopting. 'We must ask: did this barrier fail to perform when lives depended on it?' said MY Mobility Vision.
The Independent
06-05-2025
- The Independent
At least 12 dead in Indonesia bus crash after brakes apparently failed, police say
A bus carrying 34 passengers sped out of control on a downhill road and overturned in Indonesia's West Sumatra province on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and leaving others injured, police said. The inter-province bus was on its way to Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, from Medan in North Sumatra province when its brakes apparently malfunctioned near a bus terminal in West Sumatra's Padang city, said Reza Chairul Akbar Sidiq, the director of West Sumatra traffic police. He said police were still investigating the cause of the accident, but survivors told authorities that the driver lost control of the vehicle in an area with a number of steep hills in Padang after the brakes malfunctioned. The 12 bodies, including those of two children, were mostly pinned under the overturned bus, Sidiq said. All the victims, including 23 injured people, were taken to two nearby hospitals, he said. Thirteen of the injured were treated for serious injuries, Sidiq said. The driver was among those in critical condition. Local television footage showed the mangled bus on its side, surrounded by rescuers from the National Search and Rescue Agency, police and passersby as ambulances evacuated the injured victims and the dead. Road accidents are common in Indonesia because of poor safety standards and infrastructure. Last year, a bus carrying 61 students and teachers returning from an outing to a high school in Depok, just outside Jakarta, slammed into cars and motorbikes after its brakes failed, killing 11 students and injuring dozens of others. In 2023, a tourist bus with an apparently drowsy driver slammed into a billboard on a highway in East Java, killing at least 14 people and injuring 19 others.
