GEORGE TOWN: Eight factory workers were killed while 23 were seriously injured when the factory bus they were in crashed into another factory bus that had stopped on the emergency lane along the North-South Expressway (PLUS).

In the 6.48am incident, a bus carrying workers heading to the Plexus factory rammed into the back of the bus carrying Sony factory workers, that stalled due to a mechanical fault just minutes before.

Central Seberang Perai police chief ACP Nik Ros Azhan Nik Abdul Hamid said the bus experienced mechanical failure, and had already stopped on the emergency lane when the accident occurred, near the KM147 mark along PLUS.

“The second bus was moving so fast at the point of impact that it forced the first bus into the right-most lane (fast lane) and even hit the divider along the middle of the highway,” Nik Ros said.

Nik Ros said the eight passengers were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

“Another 23 were seriously hurt, while 10 others were treated for light injuries,” he said.

There were no further details at the time of writing, with police saying updates would be released as soon as it was available.