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Hadi Azmi

A baby girl was among seven people killed in a horrific three-vehicle crash in Melaka state on Monday as 2 million cars packed Malaysia’s highway for the long Christmas break.
The accident near the town of Ayer Keroh, south of Kuala Lumpur, involved a tour bus carrying 27 passengers colliding with a minivan with five passengers and a trailer.
All five in the minivan died, alongside the drivers of the coach and trailer.
Melaka fire and rescue chief Mohd Pisar Aziz said 33 other people were also injured in the crash and they had been sent to three hospitals for treatment.
“We took almost four hours [to clear the crash]. The process of clearing the bus, trailer and minivan … is being carried out,” Mohd Pisar told reporters on the site at midnight.
Traffic was completely stalled for more than 10km, resulting in a flurry of videos on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook from motorists who were caught in the gridlock.
Malaysia ranks third globally for road fatalities, with 22.48 deaths per 100,000 people, according to a 2023 research by German-based car subscription company FINN.
In 2022, the country recorded 545,588 road accidents and 6,080 fatalities, averaging one mishap every minute and 16.6 deaths daily, a 47 per cent increase from the previous year.
With more than 17 million cars registered in a country of 34 million, personal vehicles are the main mode of transport in Malaysia, resulting in massive traffic jams heightened further by waived toll fees on major holidays.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on Tuesday that the accident occurred after one of the trailer’s wheels got dislodged, forcing the bus to swerve into the opposite lane to avoid it.
Loke also instructed the Road Transport Department to take appropriate actions against the companies involved.
“[The department] will continue to implement strict and integrated enforcement actions against heavy commercial vehicles to ensure compliance with safety aspects in order to guarantee the safety of road users at all times,” he said.

Accidents in Malaysia have often been caused by driver error, with many tour buses operated by those without a valid driving licence or records of traffic violations.
In June, a tour bus accident in Genting Highlands resulted in the deaths of two Chinese visitors – Zhang Ping, 58 and Wang Shuhong, 49 – who suffered head injuries when the vehicle overturned while descending.
The bus, carrying 21 people including 18 tourists from Yunnan, was driven by a 32-year-old man without a valid driving licence and a history of 27 traffic violations.
Malaysia has launched an effort to slash road traffic fatalities in half by 2030 through its Road Safety Plan in January 2022 to create a culture of road safety in the country.
Then transport minister Wee Ka Siong said the initiative emphasised safer motorcycle riding, speed management, and safe work travel.
“Every road accident that occurs will not only pose a risk of injury or death but will also lead to high economic losses either in infrastructure repairs, compensation payments, or on medical costs,” Wee said.


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Traffic was completely stalled for more than 10km in Melaka’s Ayer Keroh, with police taking nearly four hours to clear the wreckage


Traffic was completely stalled for more than 10km in Melaka’s Ayer Keroh, with police taking nearly four hours to clear the wreckage.
