KUALA LUMPUR: Forty-seven people suffered serious injuries while 166 others escaped with minor injuries when two trains on the Kelana Jaya light rail transit (LRT) line collided about 8.45pm tonight.
Dang Wang police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohamad Zainal Abdullah said all the victims were rushed to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and other nearby hospitals for treatment.
He said the collision involved a train laden with passengers from the direction of Gombak which collided with an empty train that was coming from the Kampung Baru LRT station.
The empty train, he said, was being test-driven because it was previously found to have experienced a problem.
"Based on initial investigations, there is a possibility of miscommunication at the control centre which could have led to the accident. No element of sabotage has been identified in the incident so far," Zainal told reporters at the KLCC LRT station here tonight.
He said further investigations would be conducted under Section 201 of the Land Transport Act 2010 to identify any element of negligence related to the collision.
Earlier, Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, via his Twitter feed, said the collision took place at the underground LRT track in KLCC.
"I was made to understand that there were several passengers injured," he said.
Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (Prasarana) media affairs head Azhar Ghazali said alternative transport arrangements were made for the passengers.
"We regret to inform that the LRT Kelana Jaya Line is experiencing an incident, specifically train numbers 40 and 81. All injured passengers have been evacuated to the platform. Our priority is to get all our passengers to safety," he said in a statement tonight.
Passengers on the train had earlier shared on social media videos and images of the situation. One of the photos showed a person who appeared to be bleeding and sprawled on the floor.
Some also shared pictures of the train's shattered glass panels, caused by the collision. - Reporting by Kalbana Perimbanayagam, Dawn Chan, Mohamed Basyir, Farah Solhi and Dhesegaan Bala Krishnan