Two killed, nine injured after bus plunges into sea

Friday September 28, 2007

By TEH ENG HOCK

JOHOR BARU: Two passengers died after their bus plunged into the sea at the Stulang Laut beach near Jalan Ibrahim Sultan.

Nine more people, including the bus driver, were injured in the 8am accident yesterday and were sent to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital.

Rescuers recovered the body of Esa Aman, 47, at about 8.30am, and the body of Kweh Mei Phing, 49, at around 9.30am. Police fear some passengers might have drifted out to sea.

Rescuers carrying out the body of one of the passengers killed when the bus they were travelling in plunged into the sea at Stulang Laut in Johor Baru yesterday. Two passengers died and nine others, including the driver, were injured in the mishap.

Johor Baru (South) traffic chief Deputy Supt Ooi Kok Siong said the bus was travelling from Johor Baru city along Jalan Lingkaran Dalam towards Stulang Laut when the driver lost control of the vehicle in the rain and it plunged into the sea.

“We will be conducting a more detailed check on the bus and the driver,” he said.

One of the passengers who cheated death, V. Pathamawathy, 54, said the bus was not speeding as it neared a bus stop near her workplace at Menara MSC Cyberport.

“The bus was travelling at normal speed. But somehow it did not stop. The next thing I know, the bus was heading into the sea,” she said.

The clerk suffered a fractured toe on her right leg in the accident.

DSP Ooi said search and rescue operations would continue.

The Johor Baru Fire and Rescue Department operations commander Abdul Hamid Suhari said 19 personnel, including 10 from the scuba diving unit, took part in the search and rescue efforts.

Lucky to be alive: Pathamawathy resting in bed at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru yesterday after the accident.

“The bus was lying on its side, making it hard to search for victims. We then used a crane to get the bus upright,” he said.

Kweh’s body was discovered after a crane, borrowed from a nearby construction site, was used to lift the bus.

At about 10.20am, two more cranes arrived to help drag out the bus from the sea. The three cranes finally lifted the bus out at about 11am.

Pathamawathy and three others were warded at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital while five were discharged after receiving outpatient treatment.

Nor Azrin Md Zam, 27, was warded for aspiration pneumonia (swallowing water), while Manis Ibrahim, 52, had a concussion.

Driver R. Moorthy, 51, suffered internal injuries and broke his left leg. The driver could not be interviewed at press time as he was heavily sedated.