At a press conference, Wee said preliminary investigations indicate that human error was to blame for the incident last night, which resulted in 47 passengers being seriously injured.
The rest suffered minor injuries.
He said the Land Public Transport Agency’s (Apad) investigations found that the train driver, or hostler, of train number 40 failed to follow the correct orientation.
The train, which was not carrying passengers, was initially being driven automatically. It was headed south from the Kampung Baru station towards the Dang Wangi station.
However, it suffered a technical issue, forcing it to be driven manually.
“Initial findings have found that the accident was caused by negligence of the hostler who was driving TR40 in the wrong direction,” he said.
The report stated that TR40 suffered a time-out when it was approaching the Kampung Baru station at 8.21pm.
At the time, he said train 81 or TR81 that was ferrying 213 passengers was static on the same track. The coach then departed from KLCC towards Kampung Baru at 8.24pm after receiving information that TR40 had already departed from Kampung Baru to Dang Wangi.
The hostler, who was travelling northbound, instead of south, then collided with TR81.
According to Wee, investigative teams comprising personnel from various agencies have been assigned to collate all investigation reports to be prepared into a final report.
He added that the ministry will also prepare a Cabinet Paper, covering the preliminary report on the accident, casualties, formation of a task force and investigation committee, and a plan of action including proposals for long-term improvements.
The task force set up to investigate the accident will be led by transport ministry secretary-general Isham Ishak as chairman, with Normah Osman, the transport ministry’s deputy chief secretary (policy), as deputy chairman.
Other transport ministry officers in the task force are Wan Mohd Asraf Wan Salleh, secretary, land division; Azlin Sabtu, legal advisor; and Brig-General Izani Ismail, head inspector of air transport accidents, air transport accident investigation bureau.
Meanwhile, the expert panel in the task force comprises the following:
– Yuslizar bin Daud, former rail division leader at the land public transport commission;
– Anthony Arokianathan, maintenance support signalling manager at ERL Maintenance and Services;
– Nor Aziati Abdul Hamid, Industry Centre of Excellence for Railway (ICOE-REL); and
– Wong Shaw Voon, engineering faculty, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
The secretariat for the task force will be managed by Mohd Shahriman Shafein, head director for trains, land division at the transport ministry.
Meanwhile, Wee said that financial losses from the accident have yet to be ascertained.
On the condition of the victims, he said a total of 21 victims are currently receiving treatment at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL). Six are in critical condition, while 15 are in semi-critical condition.
He added that out of the 64 victims brought to HKL, 43 had been given outpatient treatment.
Two LRT trains collided on the Kelana Jaya line last night in an accident that was said to be the worst of its kind since it started operations in 1996.
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