It was like a roller-coaster, say bus crash victims
"It was like on a roller-coaster" - this was the description given by two sisters who recalled the terrifying moments when the bus they were in plunged into a 60-metre deep ravine at Genting Highlands yesterday.
According to Syamimi Ja'far, 25, who broke her left shoulder, the bus was speeding and the driver appeared angry.
"Before the incident, there was a small argument between the bus driver and the driver of a Honda car at the entrance of the temple."
Syamimi said the bus stopped in the middle of the road for almost five minutes before the driver reversed and continued the journey.
"After stopping for almost five minutes, some passengers chided the driver and told him not to be angry. But this only made him angrier and he sped off," she said.
Soon afterwards passengers started to scream in terror as the bus went out of control and plunged into the ravine, she said.
Her sister Nur Fathiah, 21, who was injured on the right thigh, said it was not the first time she had been in an accident involving an express bus.
"Two years ago, I was in an accident while traveling from a university in Kedah, but was only slightly hurt. This time I had to undergo an operation to take out a piece of glass lodged in my right thigh," she said.
Fathiah, who is also a diploma in accounting student at Universiti Utara Malaysia, said they went to Genting Highlands with money from the sale of Hari Raya cookies during Ramadan.
They were now wary of using public transportation.
Meanwhile, Nurul Quraitul Aini, 19, sustained serious injuries to her left arm and neck in the bus tragedy in Genting Highlands.
Yet despite the medication, she remains traumatised and could not sleep.
Her sister Intan Liyana, 26, said Nurul had been working part time at the Genting International Convention Center (GICC) since last April and was returning home yesterday.
"She said she kept seeing the bodies around her and hearing the screams for help. They are keeping her awake.
"She told our mother (Ajidah Mat Shahir, 60) that all she thought of was to live. She crawled and climbed on the bodies of other passengers to get out of the bus," she said at Selayang Hospital today. - Bernama, August 22, 2013.
