GERIK — “I could only watch my friends writhing in pain, screaming for help… some were trapped, others had gone silent… but I was helpless,” recalled 21-year-old Aleeya Maisarah Azizzani, a survivor of the tragic bus crash involving Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students early today.
Aleeya said she had been asleep when the crash happened but was jolted awake by a loud impact, followed by cries and groans from fellow passengers.
Amid the chaos and darkness, she tried to help but was stopped by severe back pain.
“My back hurt so badly… I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t help anyone. I could only save myself. I felt so guilty, but I was truly powerless,” she said, her voice trembling as she spoke to reporters outside the Gerik district police headquarters.
Seated on the right side of the bus, Aleeya managed to crawl out through a broken window. But outside the wreckage, she was confronted with a heartbreaking scene.
“I saw bodies everywhere. One person was lying in a ditch. At first, I thought they had fainted, but someone said they were already gone… I saw it with my own eyes… Allahu, so many were gone,” she said, closing her eyes to block out the memory.
She recalled that she and several friends had sensed something was wrong before the crash, detecting a burning rubber smell and noticing the bus was being driven at high speed.
“I smelled burning tyres in Jerteh. Some friends said they noticed it earlier in Tanah Merah. We didn’t say anything… I just went back to sleep,” she said.
Aleeya also recalled being briefly jolted awake while passing through Jeli, when the bus hit a pothole and nearly veered off the road.
“It felt like the bus was going to tip over. The driver slowed down briefly but then sped up again,” she said, adding that she sustained injuries to her head and legs.
The crash occurred between 12:30am and 1:00am on the East-West Highway near Tasik Banding.
The privately chartered bus, carrying UPSI students from Jerteh, Terengganu, to Tanjung Malim, Perak, overturned after colliding with a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). The accident claimed 15 lives. — June 9, 2025