Tour bas skids, 28 escape death

Twenty-eight passengers and the driver of a tour bus escaped death after it skidded at Kilometre 19, Jalan Keramat Pulai here, today.

In the 9am incident, the bus believed to be on its way to Penang from Cameron Highlands went out of control while descending a winding and hilly road.

Perak Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department chief Supt Wan Jamil Wan Chik said the vehicle than overturned and careened into the opposite lanes before landing in a drain on the left side of the road in the direction of Cameron Highlands.

Wan Jamil said the tour bus was ferrying a 49-year old local woman and 26 foreign tourists, among others from France, New Zealand, Canada, Germany and Mexico.

Due to the incident, he said, the driver, the local woman and 21 foreign tourists suffered minor injuries and were sent to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital here.

Meanwhile, a witness who declined to be named when met at the location said he was on his way to Cameron Highlands when he saw the bus descending at high speed.

"The accident happened just as I passed the location. I felt fortunate that I had passed the area," the 66-year old man said.

He added that he with several other passers-by had to smash the front mirror of the bus to bring out the passengers.