The crash, which is believed to have occurred between 12.30am and 1am, also involved a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) which was hit by the bus as it lost control and landed on its side along the East-West Highway near Tasik Banding.
Another 27 students, the bus driver and his assistant, as well as the four people in the MPV were all injured.
It is the worst crash since an express bus carrying 53 passengers, veered off the road and plunged into a 60-metre ravine off Jalan Genting, in Genting Highlands, on Aug 21, 2013, killing 37 people.
That incident remains the most devastating bus tragedy in the nation’s history, Bernama reported.
Today’s accident also brought to mind past tragedies, involving buses, that claimed numerous lives.
– On Dec 20, 2010, a tour bus carrying Thai tourists lost control and went over the road divider to the opposite lane, and overturned into a ditch. The number of fatalities was 27, the majority of whom were foreign tourists, while several others sustained serious injuries.
– On Aug 13, 2007, a total of 20 passengers were killed and nine others critically injured after the express bus they were travelling in lost control and overturned at Km229 on the North-South Expressway (PLUS) near Bukit Gantang, Perak.
– On Dec 24, 2016, 14 people died and 16 were injured when an express bus plunged down a 10-metre slope at Km137.3 on the PLUS highway, northbound near the Pagoh rest and recreation area in Johor.
– On Nov 23, 2003, 14 people died and 30 were injured when two buses collided at Km68 on the Lipis-Merapoh Road near the Pahang-Kelantan border.
– On Oct 10, 2010, 12 people were killed and more than 40 were injured in a collision involving two buses, a van, and three cars at Km223 on the PLUS highway near the Simpang Ampat toll plaza in Alor Gajah, Melaka.
– On Dec 26, 2009, 10 passengers were killed and two others injured, including one critically, when a double-decker bus lost control and collided with the road divider at Km272.8 on the PLUS highway, northbound, near the Ipoh Selatan Toll Plaza in Ipoh, Perak.