Its minister Tiong King Sing said his ministry would conduct a thorough investigation into the incident, which resulted in the deaths of two tourists from China and injuries to 13 other passengers.

“I told my ministry, if needed, to suspend the travel operator involved for further investigation and enquiry.

“If it is really proven that they were in the wrong, we will not rule out cancelling their license to let other operators know that the ministry takes such matters seriously,” he told reporters after visiting the victims at Kuala Lumpur Hospital with Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yuging.

He said the investigation would cover the status of the company, its alleged use of subcontractors, complaints about its buses being poorly maintained, and the lack of air conditioning.

“They (tourists) were here for six days and five nights, and had switched buses three times. This shows that the buses were not properly maintained,” he said.

Tiong also said a special meeting will be held with the transport ministry on Tuesday to discuss the investigation into the case, as well as standard operating procedures involving tourism companies and tour buses.

Yesterday, Bentong police chief Zaiham Kahar said the 32-year-old driver of the tour bus did not have a driving licence and had 27 traffic summonses for various offences.

Zaiham also identified the two men who died at the scene of the crash as Zhang Ping, 58, and Wang Shuhong, 49.

The accident involved a total of 18 foreign tourists, the bus driver, an assistant and a tour guide.

Bernama reported that the driver was arrested at the Bentong district police headquarters at about 10.30pm last night and that he had been remanded for four days to assist in the investigation.