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The Chartered bus overturned 3 times and landed on its roof
Below: The scene of the accident, a slight curve at 160.8 km

Above and below: The helpful effort of survivors and passerbys pushed up the bus and try to extricate the bodies and injured inside the bus

Our condolences must be to all the families of the victims in their hour of grief for the loss of loved ones especially to Paul.

This is the worst N-Express highway accident in 21 years. The accident occurred when the bus was negotiating a corner, skidded and overturned into a ditch near the Jawi Toll Plaza near Juru at 160.8 km this morning at 6.35 am while on the way to St Anne’s Church. The chartered bus had earlier left Ipoh at 5.30 am.

The grusome sight of motionless bodies taken from the bus

The bodies properly covered were difficult to identify for some

10 were killed on the spot and 1 died later in hospital and 9 is seriously injured, 2 being children with 26 suffering light injuries and received out patient treatment. The 11 includes 2 children and 4 members from the same family and ages from 11 – 60 years.

The 46 people on the bus were on their way from Ipoh to celebrate the Festival of St Annes in Bukit Mertajam. The passengers in the bus were from the Church of our Lady in Silibin, Ipoh.

Penang CPO, Datuk Christopher Wan So Kee said that investigation had began. Urine sample and a statement would be taken from the 24 bus driver who is being treated for neck and spinal injuries in the Sebrang Jaya hospital as soon as possible.

He said the stretch of the highways where the accident happened was not known to be dangerous and neither was it raining at that time. Puspakom would have to look at the worthiness of the bus.

Above: Samy Vellu & Penang CPO visited the crash site

Works Minister Datuk Samy Vellu who happened to be in Penang Bridge Run visited the site of the crash and have a “look-see” with the Penang CPO. He described it as the worst ever accident to occur in the history of the expressway

Above: Samy Vellu showing his caring nature in consoling an injured in hospital

He also visited the injured in the hospital and extended his sympathies and offer to help the victims who are now being treated at the Seberang Jaya and Sungei Bakap Hospitals.

Above & Below: Survivors, Relatives & Friends were at the hospital waiting anxiously to check on the injured and trying to identify those killed.

Speaking to reporters at the site “The drivers worked from 7am to 1am. They cannot work until so late as they are humans, even though they get overtime. They cannot work such long hours, their judgment would be affected and they get sleepy”

The saddest person must be Paul (above) who survived but lost his father, aunt & her husband and his youngest sibling. His mother is injured and hospitalized.
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Above: An unidentified passenger reccalling the moment of crash

“I was resting when I became aware the bus was overturning 3 times. When it rest I could not move because of the mangled metal and chairs on top of me. My feet were trapped. I could hear screams of children crying for help. At that moment I could only asked for God’s help for everybody.”

Meanwhile Transport minister Chan Kong Choy has promised a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident on the N-S highway. He said severe action would be taken against that those responsible and those found to be responsible.

Our PM Abdullah when informed of the accident expressed his deepest condolences to the families and said assistance would be extended to the families of the victims

..and the account from Bernama with other details but no pictures

11 Killed, Nine Seriously Injured After Bus Overturns ; July 30, 2006 16:01 PM

PENANG, July 30 (Bernama) -- Eleven people were killed, nine seriously injured while 26 others sustained minor injuries when a chartered bus on its way from Ipoh to Bukit Mertajam overturned at KM160.8 of the North-South Highway near the Jawi Toll Plaza in Juru here Sunday.

Penang CPO Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee said 10 of the passengers were killed instantly while the other died at the Hospital Sungai Bakap near here.

He said the incident occurred at 6.45 am when the bus, carrying 46 passengers to the St Anne's Church in Bukit Mertajam for the St Anne's Feast, skidded at a corner in the road and overturned in a ditch.

The bus had earlier left a church in Buntong in Ipoh at 5.30 am.

Wan said the dead included two children who were identified as Andrew Nelson and Alvin Arulsamy, both 13, and a married couple, M. Arokiasamy, 38, and G. Santha, 34.

The identities of three others who died were given as Arokiasamy Ponniah, 56, from Jelapang, R. Yoganathan, 36, from Silibin and Rayayapan Sebastian, 55 also from Jelapang.

Police are having difficulty establishing the identities of the other four dead, all women, as their handbags were strewn all over the place.

Wan said that 11 injured had been admitted to the Seberang Jaya, six at the Bukit Mertajam Hospital and two at the Sungai Bakap Hospital.

Those lightly injured were given out-patient treatment at the Sungai Bakap Hospital.

The identities of the seriously injured were as yet unavailable.

The remains of the deceased have been sent to the Sungai Bakap Hospital mortuary.

Wan said that the 24-year-old driver of the bus, which had been chartered to bring the passengers to the St. Anne's Church, was among the injured and had been admitted to the Seberang Jaya Hospital for neck and spinal injuries.

"We will record a statement from him as soon as its possible and are also conducting urine tests on him. The cause of the accident has not been determined, whether it was because of technical problems or negligence. We want to know why the bus went out of control," he said.

He said the corner was not a dangerous one and that this was the first time an accident involving a bus had happened at that stretch.

"It was not raining, neither was the road slippery...we are also investigating the driver's background. The area of the accident is not blacklisted for a high accident rate. Unless a vehicle is speeding or is faulty, it is not likely for an accident to happen there. These are factors we will have to consider in our investigations," he said.

Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, who visited the injured at the Sungai Bakap Hospital, said this was the worst accident to have happened on the North-South Expressway since it was opened.

Samy Vellu said that one of the passengers had alleged that the driver had picked them up after having just dropped a group of passengers from Kuala Lumpur in Ipoh earlier in the morning.

The bus was one of three that was bringing churchgoers at the Buntong church to the St Anne's Feast in Bukit Mertajam and comprised Christian as well as Hindu worshippers who wanted to attend the annual event.

The worshippers were from Buntong, Jelapang, Silibin, Taman Jati and Taman Meru in Ipoh and Tronoh nearby.

Samy Vellu also said that he had been informed by PLUS Epxressways Bhd (Plus), the concessionaire of the expressway, that the accident-area had not been categorised as a dangerous area for vehicles.

"The road conditions are good and there are no dangerous corners there. We don't know if it was the result of speeding. This will be investigated by the police," he told a press conference at the Sungai Bakap Hospital. He had earlier visited the accident scene together with Wan and Plus officials.

Samy Vellu was in Penang to flag off runners participating in the Penang Bridge Run earlier this morning and according to him, he rushed to the hospital and the scene of the accident on being informed the news.

"This is the worst tragedy to happen in the history of the expressway. We usually only hear of three or sometimes up to six fatalities in really bad cases. I express my sympathy to the victims and condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones," he said.

Samy Vellu also briefed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who called him on his handphone about the tragedy.

He said Abdullah was saddened by what happened and extended his sympathy to to the families involved. After the call from Abdullah ended, Samy Vellu, who is also the MIC president, said aid would also be extended to the families of the victims of the tragedy.