BUSES FERRYING TEAMS CRASH
Squash players from Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines affected
TWO buses ferrying squash players from Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines for the Sea Games were involved in an accident near the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway yesterday morning.
The buses were ferrying 17 athletes from Thailand, 10 from Myanmar and 10 from the Philippines.
The Malaysian Organising Committee for the Games’s sports and technical committee secretary, Datuk Low Beng Choo, said yesterday the buses were ferrying squash athletes and officials from their hotels in Putrajaya to the competition venue at the Bukit Jalil Sports Complex when the incident happened at 7.50am.
“The Masoc Medical Committee is attending to the situation. Some of the athletes and officials are being treated at the Games Medical Centre.”
He said some athletes and officials were attended to by their team doctors and that some of the athletes had been cleared to compete.
Low said the squash tournament had to be revised. No matches were held yesterday morning.
It is learnt that two players had to pull out from the Sea Games after suffering whiplash in the accident.
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said none of the athletes sustained serious injuries.
“Nobody was seriously injured. All the athletes were sent to the National Sports Institute for treatment.”
A police spokesman said the driver of one of the buses had to brake suddenly to avoid hitting a motorcycle. The bus was rear-ended by the second bus.
He said an official from the Philippines suffered injuries to her legs.
“Seven members from the Myanmar squash team were taken to the National Sports Institute for treatment.
“The rest were sent back to their hotels.”
The crash is being investigated by the police and Road Transport Department.