The collision took place on the Gerik-Jeli East West Highway, near Tasik Banding. It is understood that the bus had been travelling from Jerteh, Terengganu, to Tanjung Malim, Perak, Bernama reported.
The Hulu Perak Civil Defence Force operations control centre said it received a call about the incident from Gerik Hospital at 1.10am.
“Upon arrival at the location, it was discovered that the bus had overturned in the collision with a Perodua Alza MPV,” it said in a statement quoted by Bernama.
A total of 48 victims were involved. Of these, 13 died at the scene and two others at the hospital. Four others were injured.
Perak fire and rescue department director Sayani Saidon said the bus and the MPV had been travelling in the same direction from Jeli, Kelantan, to Gerik.
She said the crash caused the bus to overturn and the MPV to skid into a ditch.
“Some victims managed to exit the vehicle on their own and some were thrown out, while others remained trapped inside the bus.
“The operations commander cut open the rear section of the bus using hydraulic tools to create a working space,” she was quoted as saying by Bernama.
She added that six victims were subsequently found still inside the bus.
She said the injured victims were stabilised by personnel from the fire department and handed over to the health ministry for further treatment.
Bernama also quoted UPSI deputy vice-chancellor (student affairs and alumni) Norkhalid Salimin, who said most of the passengers on the bus were students returning to campus after the Aidiladha break.
“They had gathered in Jerteh and chartered a private bus to return to campus after celebrating the festive break in their hometowns,” he said.
Higher education minister Zambry Abd Kadir later confirmed that 13 bodies had been taken to Ipoh Hospital for post-mortem, while another two were taken to Gerik Hospital.
“The remaining injured victims are receiving treatment at Gerik Hospital,” he said in a Facebook post.
Bernama quoted UPSI as confirming that 42 of its students were on board the bus, and the 15 dead were all students. The university’s corporate communications division said 44 students were supposed to board the bus, but two of them did not.