Three die, 23 injured after express bus and car collide, plunge into ravine

Three people died, while 23 others sustained injuries after an express bus travelling from Tawau to Kota Kinabalu collided with a car before both vehicles plunged into 200 metre-deep ravine in Jalan Ranau-Kota Kinabalu near Kg Kiau junction here today.

Sabah Fire and Rescue Department director Nordin Pauzi said the dead were two men and a woman who were travelling in the car, while those who sustained injuries were the driver and passengers of the express bus.

The authority, however, had yet to disclose the identity of the victims who perished in the accident.

Nordin said each of the survivors had been taken out of the ravine and rushed to hospitals in Kota Belud and Ranau for treatment.

"The rescue operation was quite difficult as it involved efforts to take out passengers who were injured and pinned to their seats. We had to use high angle rescue technique, with ropes and stretchers, as well as heavy-duty hydraulic tools to cut open the vehicle to rescue the victims," he said in a statement here today.

Nordin said they received the distress call about the mishap at 3.47 pm and 112 members of the Special Tactical Operation & Rescue (STORM) team with 25 firefighters and 12 members of the Emergency Medical Rescue Service (EMRS) were rushed to the scene, along with four ambulances.

Other parties involved in the rescue operation were members of the police, Civil Defence Department and medical authority, he added.