I was thrown out of the bus, says victim

Those are the words of 34-year-old Dewan Chandra, one of the 47 passengers in the chartered bus which skidded and plunged into a drain at KM43 of the Klang-Teluk Intan road here today.

Speaking to Bernama when met at the Kuala Selangor police headquarters, Dewan vividly recalled that he was seated in the most front seat of the bus and was awakened from his sleep when he felt the bus skidded.

"There was a loud bang and I saw the bus crashed into a lamp post before it plunged into the drain.

"The impact caused me to be thrown out through the broken windscreen. It all happened in a blink of an eye," said the man who only sustained minor injury.

In the 5 am incident, two Indonesian nationals were killed, while eight others were severely injured.

Twenty-two other passengers sustained minor injuries, while the rest escaped unhurt, including the bus driver.

They were heading to the ferry jetty in Bagan Datoh, Perak, to catch a ferry to return to Medan, Indonesia, when the mishap occured.

All victims were taken to Tanjung Karang and Sungai Buloh Hospitals.

Another survivor, Effendi Muhamadiah, 44, also said the incident happened so fast and the passengers were mostly awakened by the loud bang.

"I heard the loud bang, but was not totally awakened. The next thing I know I have minor cuts on my head, arms and legs.

"It happened in a split second and I'm just grateful that I'm safe," he said when met at Tanjung Karang Hospital.

In Sungai Buloh Hospital, Lirlawati, 39, who sustained a broken leg and a cut on the face, was seen to be badly traumatised by the incident.

Her husband, Hanafi, 40, said he received a call from one of her friends informing him that the bus carrying his wife had met with an accident at 5.30 am.