(REUTERS): More than 200 people were injured when two trains, travelling in opposite directions but on the same track, collided in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.
According to details, the accident occurred when one of the trains, which was going on a test run and had only one driver, collided with a train carrying 213 passengers in an underground tunnel near the Petronas Twin Towers.
Both trains, which are operated by Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, were traveling at 40 km per hour when they collided. At least 47 people were severely hurt and 166 others sustained minor injuries and were sent to nearby hospitals for treatment.
Pictures and videos circulating on social media showed injured and bloodied passengers – some of them sitting or lying on the floor – and shattered windows. An adjoining carriage seemed to be in darkness.
[Video] Perkhidmatan LRT Laluan Kelana Jaya berhadapan dengan satu insiden yang melibatkan tren bernombor 40 dan 81.
Usaha menyelamatkan mangsa sedang dijalankan.
Sumber: Prasarana Malaysia Berhad pic.twitter.com/gsbUhlgECv
— BERNAMA (@bernamadotcom) May 24, 2021
District police chief Mohamad Zainal Abdullah said the train carrying passengers was heading from KLCC station to the Gombak station at one end of the line. “The empty train was going from Kampung Baru station to the Gombak station,” Abdullah said.
The line uses automated trains without drivers although on this occasion the empty train was being operated manually. “We are still investigating the incident, but we suspect that perhaps there was a miscommunication from the trains’ operations control centre,” Abdullah said.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has called for a full investigation to discover the cause of the accident. “I take this accident seriously and have instructed the Transport Ministry and Prasarana Malaysia Berhad to conduct a full investigation,” he said.
Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said the collision was the first major accident in the metro system’s 23 years of operation, and he pledged a thorough investigation.
