Two people died and nine others suffered serious injuries when a bus veered off the main road and plunged into the sea off Malaysia's southernmost state of Johor, news reports said Friday, according to dpa. The bus driver was believed to have lost control of the vehicle at a sharp bend, resulting in the vehicle crashing into the sea in the early Thursday incident, said state capital traffic police Chieg Ooi Kok Siong. Officers from the fire and rescue department launched into search efforts and managed to recover the bodies of two passengers - a man and a woman aged in their 40's - believed to have died on the spot. Nine other people, including the driver, were injured and sent to a nearby hospital, Ooi was quoted as saying by the Star daily. Officers had to use three cranes to drag the bus out of the seabed. Survivors of the crash said the bus had not been speeding before the accident. "We will be conducting a more detailed check on the bus and the driver," said Ooi. Several horrific bus crashes have occured in Malaysia in recent times, prompting authorities to conduct strict checks on bus companies and drivers who are often found to have accumulated large numbers of traffic offences.
