Updated!

37 killed in Malaysia’s deadliest road accident

At least 37 people are confirmed dead after a bus tumbled into a deep ravine Wednesday in Malaysia’s worst-ever road accident, an official said. The toll could climb further because 16 other passengers were injured, with hospitals reporting some in critical condition.

Authorities said the bus was carrying 53 passengers when it went off a swerving road and plunged down a steep 70-metre (200-foot) slope in the Genting Highlands, famed for a flashy gambling and entertainment resort about an hour’s drive from the capital Kuala Lumpur. “Thirty-seven are dead — 13 women and 24 men,” Christopher Chong, a fire official at the scene, told AFP by phone.

Chong said the bus was heading downhill when the driver apparently lost control on a bend. The driver was among those killed, reports said. They said most of the passengers were Malaysians, but staff at Hospital Kuala Lumpur said injured brought there after the crash included a Thai man and a Bangladeshi man. Local hospitals said several of the injured arrived in critical condition.

Lines of rescuers clinging to an orange rope for support were seen pulling injured victims out of the bus shortly after the accident, which occurred around 3 p.m. The bus was lying on its side in thick vegetation. The rugged terrain forced rescuers to rig up an improvised pulley system to raise bodies and injured victims in a time-consuming operation, media reports said. Police dogs also scoured the undergrowth for any survivors that may have been flung out of the bus, they said.

Police said the bus was part of a regular line that ferries visitors between the capital and the hill resort, popular with the country’s ethnic Chinese minority and foreign tourists.

Credits: Yahoo Newsroom

Spotted on The Star and Lowyat Forums:

Updated!

Fatal Genting Bus Crash- Bus Falls Off Cliff

Five people were confirmed dead and 28 more feared killed after a bus carrying local tourists plunged into a 30m ravine near Genting Highlands around 3pm Wednesday.

Earlier, 17 people were pulled out from the bus, one of whom was already dead, according to Azizan Ismail from the Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department who is directing rescue operations. He said 32 people still in the bus were believed to be dead.

The accident occurred at KM36 of the Genting-Kuala Lumpur road, some two kilometres from the Chin Swee Caves Temple, as the bus carrying 49 passengers was coming down from Genting Highlands and heading towards Kuala Lumpur.

Rescuers are frantically working to reach people trapped in the bus. Some 30 policemen and nine ambulances are at the scene. Traffic in the area is at a standstill as police ensure rescue vehicles can reach the scene of the accident.

TO BE UPDATED

Credits:The Star & Lowyat Forums

And did you realize..it’s the 15th day of the hungry ghost festival (中元节) today when this fatal accident happened?

The 15th day of the seventh lunar month is when the ghosts and spirits roaming the mortal world are especially powerful.

I don’t know..but I find it pretty spooky.
RIP to the dead..

I think people are also curious about which bus company it is. I’m not too sure either but it’s this one that has the Genting words imprinted on it which you can take from the bus terminal, I think.

Gonna be praying really hard before I leave for my trip on Friday..

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Till later,
♥ mitsueki

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