Two Indians killed as tourist bus overturns in Malaysia's Genting Highlands

Petaling Jaya (Malaysia)/New Delhi, Mar. 5 (ANI): At least two Indian nationals were killed on Monday in a bus mishap in Malaysia's Genting Highlands.

A woman in her 50s and a man died on the way to the hospital. The bus was carrying 24 people, including two bus drivers at the time of the mishap.

Preliminary reports said the bus went out of control and overturned as it was coming down from Genting Highlands.

Over a dozen passengers were also reported injured in the accident, The Star reports.

The accident occurred at KM 4.5 of the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway, the paper quoted police official Mohammed Yusri Hassan Basri, as saying when he was contacted.

He said police had received a call around 8 a.m. informing them that a bus had gone out of control, hit the road divider and crashed on the other side of the road.

Initial investigations showed that the bus was speeding.

A Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said five fire engines and 48 rescue personnel were sent to the accident site.

The injured have been admitted to hospitals in Kuala Lumpur and Selayang. The drivers, both in their 20s, have been detained by police to facilitate investigations.

The bus was headed for Kuala Lumpur, and then to Singapore.

According to Kuala Lumpur Hospital's Emergency and Trauma Department head Dr. Abu Hassan Asaari Abdullah, four injured victims are in critical condition and seven are in semi-critical condition.

All the passengers were from Punjab.

Meanwhile in New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs has in a statement said that the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur has informed it of the accident, and is monitoring the treatment of the injured who have been admitted to the Selayang Hospital and the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital.

The MEA statement said that high commission officials have reached both hospitals and are ascertaining the names of the injured.

It said that the high commission has established a help line to provide information to the family members of those killed or injured in the accident. (ANI)