PUTRAJAYA: Fourty-four passengers on board a tour bus heading from Skudai, Johor, to Kuala Lumpur escaped unhurt when the vehicle caught fire in an incident at the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) toll plaza in Serdang at about 6.13 am today.
Sepang District Police chief ACP Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof in a statement said all the passengers and the bus driver managed to get off the bus in time.
"The bus, however, was completely burnt and the roof of the UPM toll booth also caught fire," he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Wan Kamarul said investigations revealed that the incident occurred due to a clutch failure.
"According to the 41-year-old driver, he tried to press the clutch pedal about 50 m from the toll lane and it felt hard, but the bus stopped by itself in the lane.
ADVERTISEMENT
"At the time, a passenger shouted that there was a fire at the back of the bus, and the driver then noticed the fire raging through the rearview mirror," he said, adding that the fire was doused by the Serdang Fire and Rescue Department within an hour after arriving at the scene at 6.26 am.
Meanwhile, PLUS in a statement said that it had reopened the exit lanes at the UPM intersection at 11 am following the incident.
"The leftmost exit lane at the toll plaza is still closed for repair and maintenance," it said.
