KUALA LUMPUR: A former transport minister has called for a special task force to be set up to investigate last night's fatal accident on the North-South Expressway (PLUS), which claimed seven lives and injured 33 others.
The accident, which involved a tour bus, two trailers, a multipurpose vehicle (MPV), and a car, reportedly occurred after the bus hit a tyre that had detached from a trailer.
In a statement, Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said the task force's findings would be crucial to ensuring such incidents do not happen again.
He also voiced concern over the number of fatal accidents involving heavy vehicles, citing a Sinar Harian report that recorded 825 fatal accidents involving lorries in the first 10 months of 2024.
"This is a worrying trend," said Wee.
Preliminary investigations into yesterday's accident revealed that the tour bus and one of the trailers were heading northbound when one of the trailer's tyres detached and landed on the road.
The bus crashed into the tyre and skidded into the opposite lane, colliding with a Perodua Bezza.
The collision caused the car to swerve into the left lane and hit the road barrier. The bus then crashed into another trailer and an MPV carrying a family of eight.
The identified victims include the 56-year-old bus driver, Noorisnien Khamid from Johor; the MPV driver, Khairul Ikhwan Mazupi; his 32-year-old wife, Fadzlenna Ramli; their youngest child, Muhammad Umar, 2; and Fadzlenna's father, Ramli Ab Wahab, 56.
Two other victims, one a passenger on the bus and the other a passenger in the MPV, have yet to be identified.
Khairul Ikhwan and Fadzlenna's two other children, aged 4 and 7, are currently receiving treatment in the Red and Yellow Zones of the hospital.