A bus carrying Thai tourists crashed and overturned today as it came down from Cameron Highlands, killing 27 people and injuring 10 in what is believed to be the worst road accident in Malaysian history.

Twenty-two of them died on the spot, four of them on the way to hospital and one at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital here, said Perak Deputy Chief Police Officer Zakaria Yusof.

Three of those killed were Malaysians, he said, adding that one of them was the bus driver Omar Shahidan, 48, another a tour guide of Siamese descent Soontorn a/l Kian, 38, and the third a yet-to-be-identified co-driver.

Fifteen of the dead were women.

Zakaria was reported by Bernama as having said that the police and Fire and Rescue Department personnel were summoned at about noon and deployed about 100 people for the rescue operation.

He said the bus was heading to Kuala Lumpur from Cameron Highlands, and it was believed that the tourists were to have flown to Bangkok from Kuala Lumpur.

Driver lost control

Zakaria said preliminary investigations indicated that the driver lost control of the bus and the vehicle hit the road divider, crashed onto the opposite lane and overturned.

Zakaria said there were 37 people in the bus bearing registration number AFX 2266 belonging to San Express Holiday registered in Perak and operating out of Changloon, Kedah.

San Express Holiday managing director Sor Eng Hock, who is in Bangkok on business, said when contacted: "I am very sad ... I am shocked."

He said he would have to come back to the country to find out what exactly happened.   

The bus company was registered in 2007 and its six buses had never been involved in major accidents, he said.

Replying to a question, Sor said he would have to discuss some form of compensation for the victims.

The Cameron Highlands-Simpang Pulai Road, which has many curves and gradients, was opened to traffic in 2003. It is an alternative road to the highlands, the original one leading from Tapah.

The new road is usually used by motorists heading for Gua Musang through Lojing in Kelantan.

Today’s accident is believed to be the worst in Malaysian history. The previous major road accident occurred on Aug 13, 2007, when 20 people were killed and nine injured in a bus accident at Km229 of the North-South Expressway in Bukit Gantang near Taiping, also in Perak. 

- Bernama