KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia):
At least 37 dead bodies have been recovered from a bus that plunged into a deep
ravine near a Malaysian mountaintop tourist resort Wednesday, a fire department
official said.
Police have
said the bus was carrying up to 45 people when it tumbled down a hill in the
Genting Highlands, a gambling and entertainment resort about an hour's drive
from the capital Kuala Lumpur.
"We
have 20 confirmed dead," the fire official, M. Mahendran, told AFP by
phone.
"We
have taken out some injured people but we are unable to confirm how many were
in the bus."
He said
officials have been unable to confirm the nationalities of victims.
Amateur
photos posted on the Internet also showed damage to the road's concrete
embankment, suggesting the bus had managed to smash through the barrier.
Malaysian
media had earlier reported that at least 15 people had been sent to hospital
after the accident at around 3 p.m. on a steep and winding road.
Police have
said the bus was part of a regular line that ferries visitors between the
capital and the hill resort.
The flashy
resort, whose bright lights can be seen from the city at night, is operated by
Malaysian gaming firm Genting, one of the country's largest companies.
The resort
includes the country's sole casino and has attracted more than 20 million
visitors per year since 2011. It is currently undergoing a reportedly three
billion ringgit ($900 million) refurbishment.
The plans
include a 400 million ringgit Twentieth Century Fox theme park set to open in 2016.
However, the
steep and winding road leading up to the Genting Highlands is notoriously
perilous.
Two Indian
tourists died and 22 other people were hurt when their bus overturned in the
area last year.
Muslim-majority
Malaysia has banned gambling but allows non-Muslims to bet at the casino in the
Genting Highlands, as well as on horse-racing and private lotteries.
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