Johor government to assist bereaved families of Chinese tourists

The Johor Government will assist the bereaved families of Chinese tourists who were involved in an accident after two buses and a tanker lorry collided at the southbound 94km North-South Expressway near Batu Pahat on Wednesday.

This would include application for Visa on Arrival (VOA) to the country and arrangements to claim the bodies, said state tourism, trade and consumer affairs committee chairman, Datuk Tee Siew Kiong.

"The directive was issued to Tourism Malaysia Johor to help the relatives who are expected to arrive within two or three days via Singapore," he told reporters after visiting the injured victims at the Sultanah Nora Ismail Hospital (HSNI) here this evening.

He was accompanied by HSNI director, Dr Azimah A Aziz.

In the 5.30pm crash, four female Chinese tourists and a lorry driver were killed when the lorry's punctured right tyre caused the vehicle to ram into two south-bound buses from Yong Peng.

Dr Azimah said two men, including a bus driver, and four Chinese female tourists who were injured, were in stable condition at the hospital.

According to Express Holiday Sdn Bhd managing director K. C. Lee, the company was involved in the holiday travel arrangements of the 20 victims in the bus since Oct 3.

The tour covered Kuala Lumpur and Melaka and the group was scheduled to return to Jiangsu, China via Changi Airport in Singapore today, he said.