Malaysia Bus crash that killed 28 possibly due to human, technical factors ?

Police believe that the express bus crash at Km15 of the Cameron Highlands-Simpang Pulai road yesterday in which 27 people were killed, mostly Thai tourists, was due to driver factor and technical problems of the bus.

Perak police deputy chief Datuk Zakaria Yusof who said this, also denied that the accident could have been caused by the road's oily patches.

"However, it is up to the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros), Puspakom and Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) to determine the cause of the accident,".

A double-decker bus carrying Thai tourists overturned on a Malaysian highway Monday, killing 28 people on their way back from a hill resort in the country's worst road accident in years.

The tourists were heading to Kuala Lumpur after a weekend trip to the popular Cameron Highlands in central Malaysia when their bus spun out of control and crashed into a protective barrier, a district police official said.

The bus then flipped over and landed beside a rocky slope, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

Rescuers recovered 22 bodies, and another six people died after being taken to a hospital, he said. About a dozen other passengers were injured.

The bus was reportedly operated by San Holiday Express, a Malaysian-based tour company.

Earlier, it was reported that the bodies of the Thai passengers killed and those injured will be flown home using a Royal Thai Air Force C-130 transport aircraft tomorrow.

Thailand's Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Thani Thongpakdi was quoted in the Bangkok Post Online today as saying that the C-130 Hercules would leave for Malaysia about 8am tomorrow from the Don Muang Air Force Terminal.

He said other than a team of doctors and Consular Affairs Department deputy director-general Mathurapojana Ittharong on board, a relative of each of the victims would also be allowed to travel on the plane.

Thani said he had learned that the company that operated the package tour had an insurance policy that covered all passengers