Perak police chief Noor Hisam Nordin said the 39-year-old man was detained at about 6pm after being discharged from Taiping Hospital, where he was treated for injuries sustained in the crash.

The suspect will be brought to the Gerik district police headquarters (IPD) to assist in the investigation under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, which pertains to causing death by reckless or dangerous driving.

“We have received instructions from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC). (He) will be charged in the Gerik (magistrates’) court tomorrow,” Nor Hisam said in a Bernama report.

The bus was chartered by UPSI students who had celebrated Hari Raya Aidiladha in Jerteh, Terengganu, over the weekend, and were travelling back to their campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak.

It overturned at Km53 of the East-West Highway near Tasik Banding, Gerik, killing 15 students. The crash also left 33 others injured, including the bus driver, his assistant and four people in an MPV involved in the collision.

On Tuesday, Sinar Harian reported that Bukit Aman traffic investigation and enforcement department director Yusri Hassan Basri had revealed that the bus driver had 18 outstanding summonses.

He said 13 summonses were for speeding, three for not wearing a seatbelt, one for not having a third brake light, and another for involvement in a previous accident.

Transport minister Loke Siew Fook reportedly said that based on dashcam footage from another road user, it was clear that the bus was “speeding and overtaking” before it lost control and overturned.