Malaysia probes metro train crash that injured over 200
- The metro light rail trains collided in an underground tunnel close to the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur
- Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said that initial investigations suggested human error was to blame
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Malaysian authorities on Tuesday were investigating a collision between metro trains in Kuala Lumpur that injured more than 200 people, as dramatic accounts emerged of the crash.
The accident happened in an underground tunnel close to the landmark Petronas Twin Towers at around 8.45pm (local time) on Monday, when a packed train collided with another that was empty and heading in the opposite direction on the same track.
Passengers were left battered and bruised after being thrown across carriages during the crash, with many evacuated on stretchers.
Most suffered minor injuries but 64 were taken to hospital, and six were in critical condition on Tuesday, authorities said.
One passenger, Lim Mahfudz, described the moment the trains collided.
“This resulted in all seated passengers being thrown … and standing passengers being thrown,” he wrote on Twitter, adding people were injured as glass flew around the carriage.
It was a “real nightmare”, he said.
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More than 200 injured after metro trains collide in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur
“The impact was so strong that I suffered injuries to my head, left leg and chest,” another passenger, Afiq Luqman Mohd Baharudin, told official news agency Bernama.
Shaken passengers had to be evacuated by emergency workers from the tunnel, and brought up to the surface.
The empty train had a driver at the controls and was being tested after repairs, while the full train was driverless.
Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said that initial investigations suggested human error was to blame and that the driver had driven the empty train in the wrong direction.
“This caused the [head-on] collision,” he said.
The accident happened close to a station under the Twin Towers, which is one of the busiest on the network. The affected line resumed services early on Tuesday.
The accident was the worst on the metro system since it began operations about 25 years ago, although there have been less serious incidents.
In 2008, four passengers suffered minor injuries when two trains collided.
