Genting bus crash: Search and rescue restarts amid claims from relatives that family members are still missing

Search and rescue efforts have been restarted following claims from relatives that family members are still missing.

Bentong Deputy OCPD Deputy Supt Wan Azharuddin Wan Ismail said a total of 21 personnel from the Police General Operations Force (PGA) Battalion 4 and Battalion 7 and Fire and Rescue have rappelled down the 200ft slope to search for more victims at around 9.45am.

"We have reports from relatives who could not contact their loved ones.

"The search and rescue efforts will continue until we are satisfied that there are no more victims," he told reporters at the site of the accident on Thursday.

He added that the search team would also be looking out to recover identification documents or valuables from the wreckage.

"22 bodies have yet to be identified and we hope to retrieve documents that may help to identify them," he said.

DSP Wan Azharuddin said once the personnel conclude their operations, a briefing would be held to determine when the wrecked bus could be hoisted up.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (Miros) deployed a remote controlled hexacopter equipped with a high definition camera to assess the scene.

Officials from both Miros and Road Safety Department (JKJR) are at the scene to get a clearer picture of how the crash occurred.

As at 8.30am a total of 24 postmortems have been completed. 10 bodies have been identified and 6 have claimed family members.

Family members were seen waiting patiently around the Hospital Kuala Lumpur forensic area to identify and claim the bodies of their loved ones.

Some of the family members of the deceased in Genting bus crash grieving the loss of their family members outside HKL mortuary area

The crash, which occurred at around 2pm on Wednesday claimed the lives of 37 of the 53 passengers aboard.

Survivors claim the brakes on the bus failed before it hit the divider and plunged into the ravine.

Thursday 22 August 2013

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/08/22/Genting-bus-crash-Search-and-rescue-restarts.aspx

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