GUA MUSANG, May 22 — A man was killed and five others were injured after an express bus ploughed into road maintenance personnel at Km72 of Jalan Gua Musang-Kuala Krai here today, police said. 

Gua Musang Police chief Supt Saiful Bahri Abdullah said the dead man was Mohd Zakarman Bedol, 41, of a road maintenance company. 

Two of the injured men were from the same company and the three others were from the Malaysian Institute of Public Works, he told reporters here. 

He said the accident happened at 12.15pm when the second of five express buses passing that stretch on their way from Kota Baharu to Kuala Lumpur knocked down Mohd Zakarman who was controlling traffic flow. 

The bus then crashed onto a van and a four-wheel-drive vehicle belonging to the company parked on the road shoulder, he said.

The impact of the crash caused the van to hit the five men digging the road to test the quality of the just-tarred stretch, tossing them into the air and causing them to fall onto the road, he added.

Saiful Bahri said the 54-year-old driver of the bus and the 10 passengers were unhurt. The passengers continued their journey in another bus.  “The bus driver was temporarily detained to have a statement recorded,” he said. 

Mohd Zakarman’s body was sent to the Gua Musang Hospital. — Bernama