TAPAH, January 16 – All that civic-minded motorist Parvinder Singh wanted to do was to remove a lorry tyre to prevent an accident at the south-bound stretch of the North-South Expressway early today.
The tyre was left discard in the middle of the road near the Tapah toll plaza.
Instead, what struck the Workshop on Wheels patrol officer came like a bolt out of the sky – a tragic episode which will be etched in his memory for years to come.
A Genting Highlands-bound tourist bus from Kuala Kurau and ferrying 30 passengers hit the tyre, skidded on the left road-shoulder and rammed into Parvinder’s car, about 100 metres away, before the bigger vehicle crashed into a ditch and caught fire at the 326.3km stretch.
In the incident at 1.15am, eight passengers were burnt to death while the bus driver succumbed to serious rib injury while being rushed to the hospital.
“I am shocked and sad as my original intention was to move the tyre to prevent an accident…but in the end, I saw it (accident) happening right before my eyes,” said Parvinder, 35.
Parvinder was speaking to reporters before he filed a report at the Tapah police headquarters.
Recounting the horrific bus crash, he said he was driving home to Gopeng and wanted to make a U-turn at Tapah when he saw the tyre.
“While I was on the road-curb to direct traffic so that I could remove the tyre, a bus suddenly hit the tyre before raming my car.
“Five minutes later, while I was trying to contact the North-South Highway authorities for help, the bus and my car caught fire.
“Nevertheless, I managed to rescue five of the victims by dragging them from under the bus.
“I heard people screaming but I could not help all the victims,” he said, adding that he was thankful he was safe.
– BERNAMA
