# Malaysia bus crash kills at least 15 students and staff on East-West Highway
At least 15 people were killed and 33 others injured on June 9 when a bus carrying university students crashed into a minivan in northern Malaysia, authorities said.
The collision happened near Gerik on the East-West Highway, a route that links the two coasts of the Malaysian peninsula and has long been associated with serious accidents. According to France 24’s AFP report, 13 people died at the scene and two later died in hospital. The dead included 14 students from Sultan Idris Education University, known as UPSI, and one bus attendant.
Perak state police chief Hisam Nordin said initial findings suggested the bus had lost control and struck the minivan from behind. Rescue crews used a hydraulic cutter to free trapped passengers from the wreckage. The state disaster management authority said some victims managed to escape on their own, others were thrown from the vehicle and some remained trapped inside the bus.
The injuries were severe enough to send seven people into critical care, while police later said some of the injured had been discharged. Most of the victims were aged between 21 and 23 and were traveling back to campus after an Islamic public holiday weekend.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he and his wife were deeply saddened by the tragedy and ordered the Higher Education Ministry to assist the families of the victims. He also urged caution on the roads, calling the crash another reminder that reckless driving and haste can carry fatal consequences.
The report described the crash as the deadliest road accident in Malaysia in more than a decade. It also placed the disaster against the backdrop of the country’s high road-fatality rate, with government figures cited by AFP showing an average of 18 deaths on the roads each day.
The highway itself is no stranger to danger. AFP said the East-West Highway has a history of accidents, including animal-vehicle collisions, and that Malaysia’s worst bus disaster came in 2013 when an express bus plunged down a ravine and killed 37 people.
For the families of the students aboard the bus, the immediate focus is on hospital treatment, identification and the return of the dead. For Malaysian transport authorities, the crash renews pressure to examine road safety, vehicle standards and enforcement on one of the country’s most treacherous routes.
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Casualties, location, victim profile, rescue response, and official reaction are drawn from source 5510.
