Malaysian trapped in bus throughout Pahang flood recounts expertise

KUALA LUMPUR: It was already late on Jan 4, however the 42 passengers on a sleeper bus from Kota Bharu to Kuala Lumpur have been awake. Alongside the way in which, the bus had encountered a flood at Jeram Besu in Pahang state, on account of a torrential downpour through the annual monsoon season.

Relentless rain for 3 days into the brand new yr left varied elements of peninsula Malaysia, together with many areas in Pahang and Johor, flooded. One of many passengers on the bus was Mr Farys Nordin, who was returning to his residence in Kuala Lumpur after attending a buddy’s marriage ceremony in Kelantan.

He recounted the harrowing expertise throughout a telephone interview with CNA every week after the incident. “No person was sleeping as a result of we have been all apprehensive. Then we heard that the engine died as we moved into the water,” stated Mr Farys, 26.

When he seemed exterior the window, he realised that the floodwater had risen over the roofs of surrounding buildings. The decrease deck of the double-decker bus was submerged in swirling floodwater. “Passengers from the primary deck then rushed as much as the place the remainder of us have been. A few of us began to panic,” recounted Mr Farys.

He added that the cabin lights have been flickering on and off. The air con was not working.  “The entire automobile was swaying left and proper, and the water was swirling quick across the bus.” However fortunately for the passengers, villagers who had taken refuge on prime of a hill noticed the bus being submerged and observed that passengers have been trapped inside.

They despatched a rescue boat to the positioning and transported the passengers again to the hill the place it was safer. “We opened the emergency exit on the second deck, and the boat might cease there. All of us had life jackets from the bus and took turns to hop onto the boat,” stated Mr Faris.

The boats transferred the passengers 4 at a time, crossing a lake that didn’t exist previous to the flood.  “Sitting on the boat was scary with sounds of water throughout, and the boat was a bit of moist. However we felt safer on it than the bus,” he added.