Rescue workers removing the dead from the express bus.Tragic accident of a double decker Sani express bus where 10 people were killed. Bus driver fall asleep.Metal barrier on the left side of the road pierced into the bus, and this was probably what caused the deaths and injury.
Konsortium Bas Ekspress Kuala Lumpur Branch manager
Tan Ah Pah, 55, said bus services cannot accommodate the
volume of passengers during the day if a midnight bus
services ban is enforced.
KKKL bus driver Anoar bin Osman, 54, said midnight bus
drivers do have problems of staying awake and alert when
driving.
The Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board has commenced an audit on Sani Express Sdn Bhd following the Saturday morning express bus accident at the North-South Expressway which killed 10 and seriously injured two passengers.
Four CVLB officers were seen entering Sani Express management office at Wisma Dato' Sani, near Klang Sentral Terminal here, at 10.10am and spent almost four hours there.
Led by CVLB enforcement division assistant director Mat Fauzi Muhamad Noor, they left at 1.50pm, escorted by Sani Express top management, including its chief executive officer Abu Bakar Mohammad.
Mat Fauzi told reporters said the visit was to gather information to prepare a report and would not disclose what transpired at the meeting.
“If reporters want further information, please go to our headquarters. We are only here to gather information to prepare a report.
"The report will be out soon, please wait until then," he said as he was leaving.
Sani Express spokesman, known only as Ida Nureeni, said the company would not comment nor issue any statement as investigation was still ongoing.
"I'm sorry, we will not give any comment now. The CVLB officers were here to gather information. This is standard procedure following the accident," she told reporters.
It was earlier reported that CVLB chairman Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique said the main purpose of the audit was to gather detailed information and to review working procedures, safety elements, and the assignment of the driver involved in the crash.
She said the audit was normal procedure carried out on bus operators each time one their buses was involved in a fatal accident.
Bus driver admits falling asleep while driving
The driver of an express bus that crashed at Km272.8 of the North-South Expressway early today and left 10 passengers killed and two injured has admitted to falling asleep at the wheel.
“He fell asleep at the wheel but breathalyser and drug tests conducted on him proved negative,” Ipoh traffic police chief DSP Mohd Rodzi Rejab told reporters here today.
The double-decker Sani Express bus skidded and hit the road divider as it was heading north, about 8km after the Ipoh Selatan toll plaza at 1am.
The victims had been seated on the lower tier of the bus. The two drivers and the 36 other passengers were unhurt.
It is understood that the driver had taken over the wheel after the bus had stopped at the Simpang Pulai lay-by just before Ipoh.
Mohd Rodzi said the driver was supposed to take over the wheel at the Sungai Perak Rest and Service Area, Kuala Kangsar further ahead.
He declined to comment on whether the driver had any previous records, but said the express bus records were clean.
The police have remanded the driver until Wednesday to facilitate investigations under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
Meanwhile, Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir has urged the federal government to ban express buses from travelling at night.
“The measure could help reduce accidents involving express buses. The lives of passengers are more important,” he told reporters after presenting personal donations to families of the victims at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital here today
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