SERDANG, April 8 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke is urging employers of the foreign workers involved in yesterday’s bus crash at Sepang to come forward and take responsibility for their employees.
He said this included workers who perished in the accident, those injured, as well as those who will be discharged later tonight.
“The authorities will assist in the repatriation of the bodies to their respective countries, and I understand the various embassies and high commissions have already been notified,” Loke told reporters outside the Serdang Hospital emergency ward entrance, after paying a visit to the victims.
Despite being foreign nationals, he said it is the government’s duty to facilitate the eventual return of the remains.
“The employers should also provide further medical treatment for their injured workers, and for those to be discharged they should be collected and sent back to their hostels.
“The ministry is saddened by this tragedy, especially since the bus carrying over 40 people was only several hundred metres away from their destination point,” Loke said.
Preliminary investigations have revealed the bus driver took a wrong turn an entered a disused lane. The minister said this eventually resulted in the bus crashing into a large U drain.
“The Road Transport Department and the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research will conduct an audit investigation on the bus’ operating company tomorrow.
“The company, CJ Global Travel and Tour Sdn Bhd, is based in Bandar Baru Nilai, Negri Sembilan, and has the permits to operate five worker buses and four tour buses,” he said.
Loke added that if the company is found to have violated any road safety regulations, it could face the suspension of its operating license.
The crash has claimed the lives of 12 people thus far, including the most recent one, an Indonesian woman who died at Putrajaya Hospital.
One of the 12 dead died en route to Serdang Hospital, which received a total of 14 victims.
Four remain in critical condition, five are semi-critical, and four are not critical. Other victims in the crash were also dispatched to the Kajang and Banting Hospitals for treatment.
