Alor Gajah police chief Arshad Abu said Zulkarnain Jalil, 41, was pinned to his seat and died at the scene from major injuries to the head and body in the 2.30am crash.

He said of the seven injured passengers, aged 20 to 50, two were taken to Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital in Seremban and the other five to Rembau Hospital for treatment.

Arshad said the other passengers were transferred to another bus to continue their journey to Kuala Lumpur.

He said the driver of the trailer also escaped unhurt.

“The trailer lorry was travelling from Kota Tinggi, Johor, to Senawang, Seremban, while the express bus was travelling from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur, with 30 passengers.

“The crash is believed to have occurred when the express bus hit the rear of the trailer lorry, which was on the outer right lane at the time,” he said in a statement.

He said the driver’s body was taken to Alor Gajah Hospital for a post-mortem.