Alor Gajah police chief Ashari Abu Samah said the police, along with highway concessionaire PLUS Malaysia Bhd, are actively searching for the tyre, Harian Metro reported.

“The police, together with PLUS, are working to locate and retrieve the lorry’s tyre because, at the time of the incident, no tyre was found.

“Initially, the police had no information regarding the tyre until footage surfaced, from a witness,” he was quoted as saying.

He said the lorry driver later confirmed that the tyre had detached from the vehicle.

The crash, which occurred on the PLUS highway at 8.45pm on Dec 23, involved a tour bus carrying 27 passengers, two lorries, a car, and an MPV. Seven people were killed and 33 injured.

It was reported that a detached tyre from a lorry caused the tour bus driver to lose control of the vehicle, swerve into the opposite lane and collide with the trailer lorry, resulting in the fatal crash.

A video of the incident, showing the tyre coming off the lorry later went viral.

Ashari was responding to reports that Puspakom had submitted its findings on the fatal crash to the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research for further action, despite incomplete investigations due to the missing tyre.

Puspakom’s CEO, Mahmood Razak Bahman, said the report only covered the inspection of the vehicles involved.