- The Malay Mail Online - The bus that crashed into a column, causing its roof to be torn off.
GEORGE TOWN, March 10 — Like a scene from an action movie, a bus driver had no choice but to crash into a concrete column to stop his runaway vehicle due to faulty brakes, saving himself and his 45 passengers from a worse fate.
It was a spur of the moment decision for D. Ashogan, who was left with few options after he realised the brakes on the bus he was driving were not working as he navigated a traffic lights junction along the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.
What was a routine drive from Relau to a factory in the Free Industrial Zone in Bayan Lepas soon turned harrowing as the bus continued to move despite his repeatedly stomping on the brake pedal.
The pre-dawn hours are a busy time in the area, with countless buses ferrying factory workers to work and Ashogan was sure a catastrophic accident would happen if he didn’t stop the bus soon.
“The bus was going slowly but I could not stop it so I had to find a way to stop it fast before it goes out of control and takes us all to our deaths,” he said when met at the site of the 5.45am incident near the Sultan Abdul Halim Mua’adzam Shah bridge.
As his bus approached a flyover that was still under construction, he made the split second decision to ram into one of the columns to stop it in its tracks.
“I immediately instructed all the 43 passengers to duck down as I manoeuvred the runaway bus to the column in a bid to stop it,” he said, adding that all he was thinking at that time was to stop the bus for everyone’s safety.
While Ashogan managed to save all on board, they were not left unscathed.
The impact tore the roof off the bus, and also threw some of his passengers out of the vehicle.
Penang Hospital Director Dr Sukumar Mahesan confirmed that 46 people including Ashogan were admitted after the crash, two of them in critical condition.
Seven others were seriously injured while 37 including Ashogan sustained minor injuries.
Earlier, the Bayan Baru Fire and Rescue Department station chief Rohizad Yusof said they received a distress call at 5.58am and arrived at the scene at 6.03am.
The team dispatched to the site found 12 victims who were seriously injured and immediately sent them to the hospital.
Southwest district police chief Supt Lai Fah Hin, when contacted, said the police are investigating the cause of the incident.
He confirmed that there were no fatalities and that all the victims were sent to the hospital for treatment and observation.
<기사 출처 : The Malay Mail Online>
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