The remains of the 13 Malaysians killed in a bus accident in Thailand were brought today in as many hearses from the Subang airbase near Kuala Lumpur to five places in Batu Pahat, Johor.
The hearses arrived in the town at 9.15am, having left Subang at 4.23am in a convoy that included an ambulance carrying one injured passenger, a bus carrying several next-of-kin and a family car.
The caskets, injured woman passenger Lee Siew Kim, 61, and 12 next-of-kin were flown into the airbase at about 3.30am in two C-130 aircraft, one belonging to the Royal Thai Air Force and the other the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
The remains were brought to three funeral parlours, a house and a temple in Batu Pahat.
They were received by family members waiting from as early as 7am and who broke down upon seeing the caskets.
The two military Hercules C-130 aircraft touched down at the Subang airbase at 3.32am and 3.38am, respectively, after a three-hour flight from Chiang Mai, near where the accident took place, about 700km north of the Thai capital city of Bangkok.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mah Siew Keong was at the airbase to receive the remains and the injured passenger Lee as well as the next-of-kin.
RMAF men carry the caskets
The 13 were killed after the bus carrying the 22 Malaysians crashed at 11.30am (12.30pm in Malaysia) on Sunday following an accident with a pick-up truck while travelling from from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai.
At the Subang airbase, each of the 13 caskets was carried by eight Royal Malaysian Air Force personnel from the aircraft to waiting hearses.
One family member was seen holding onto a casket and heard addressing her late father in Mandarin: "Let's go home to Batu Pahat."
After all the remains had been placed in the hearses, the vehicles left the airbase in a convoy at 4.23am for Batu Pahat, Johor.
The injured Siew Kim was taken in an ambulance straight to the Batu Pahat Hospital. Her condition is reported to be stable.
The eight other injured Malaysians, five of whom were severely injured, are being treated at a hospital in Chiang Mai.
- Bernama
