Malaysia bus crash kills 14

Fourteen people died and 24 were injured in a road accident in Malaysia when two buses crashed while transporting people home for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr.

Sunday’s accident took place after an express bus crashed into a chartered schoolbus on a road in Kuala Lipis in the state of Pahang, near Kuala Lumpur. The accident forced the road to be temporarily closed.

Thirteen passengers died at the scene of the crash, a police spokesperson confirmed. Thousands of people were on their way home to celebrate the two-day festival of Eid al-Fitr, the main religious holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

The holiday began last Tuesday, but unofficially stretches a week and is celebrated by more than half the country’s population of 25 million. 

During the Eid festival last year, there were 12,239 road accidents and 285 deaths.

The Malaysian government lanuched its road safety campaign on 20 November in the run up to the festival of Eid al Fitr. Since the launch of the campaign there have been 8297 accidents.

Source: Reuters