Nine injured as express bus rams lorry

NIBONG TEBAL: Nine people were injured, three of them seriously, after an express bus rammed into the rear of a lorry and overturned on a south-bound lane of the North-South Expressway near Sungai Bakap last night, police said today.
The bus, with two drivers and 26 passengers on board, was travelling from Kangar to Johor Baharu when it hit the lorry laden with gas cylinders at 11.35pm, said Seberang Perai Selatan Police chief Supt Wan Hasan Wan Ahmad.
"One of the drivers and eight passengers were trapped in the vehicle and had to be removed by fire and rescue personnel. They were sent to the Seberang Jaya Hospital," he said when contacted.
The 39-year-old bus driver and two of the passengers, a man and a woman, were seriously injured and had been admitted to the hospital, he said, adding that the six other passengers were given outpatient treatment. Wan Hasan said the lorry driver, in his 40s, was unhurt.
A bus passenger, who identified himself as Anuar, 34, said the passengers were awakened with a jolt by a loud noise.
"Many of the passengers started screaming. Some of us tried to get out of the bus by the time the fire and rescue personnel arrived.
"A few of the passengers were trapped and bleeding. Fortunately, I was only slightly injured," he said when approached at the hospital. – Bernama