Three dead as bus crashes into divider

KUALA LUMPUR: Three passengers were killed when an express bus lost control and hit the road divider near the Bukit Tagar Toll Plaza in Hulu Selangor, along the North- South Expressway, yesterday morning.

During the 3.10am accident, Mohamad Zamri Abd Rani, 42, from Pendang, Kedah; Mohamed Ainol Fauzei Mohd Aman, 25, from Simpang Renggam, Johor Baharu and an Indonesian citizen identified as Berliana Hutagalung, 34, died at the scene.

Bus driver Ahmad Hidayat Idrus, 32, was seriously injured and sent to the Slim River Hospital for treatment.

Fourteen other passengers in the bus, including the second driver, were not injured.

Hulu Selangor police chief Supt Norel Azmi said the driver of the bus was believed to have lost control and hit the road divider.

“The express bus from Kuala Lumpur and heading north was believed to be speeding when the driver lost control. The impact saw the road divider cut through the bus frame,” he told Bernama, here, yesterday.

The bodies of the three victims were later sent to the Kuala Kubu Baru Hospital while the driver who was injured, was sent to the Sungai Buloh Hospital, for treatment.

Meanwhile, in Kuala Kubu Baharu, Mohamed Ainol’s uncle, ASP Abd Rashid Abu Bakar, said he got to know about his nephew’s death in the crash after listening the names of the victims involved which were conveyed through the police walkietalkie.

Abd Rashid, who heads the Bukit Sentosa police station, said he was informed that his nephew was returning to his campus at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang. — Bernama