Malaysia Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said authorities had launched a probe into a collision between two light rail transit trains that left 213 people injured, Channel News Asia said Tuesday.
The accident took place underground at around 8:45 p.m. Monday local time between the KLCC and Kampung Baru stations, near the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia's capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Some 47 people were seriously hurt, Mohamad Zainal Abdullah, district police chief, said.
The crash happened in a section of a tunnel about 330 feet away from the KLCC station. The line uses automated trains although the empty train was being operated manually when the accident occurred.
On Tuesday, the LRT Kelana Jaya line in Kuala Lumpur resumed service, with trains operating on a single track, public transport operator Prasarana Malaysia said in a statement, adding shuttle buses will be deployed for support services.
Prasarana Malaysia said the Kelana Jaya line is expected to make full recovery in three days after cleaning and recovery work are completed.
"I take this accident seriously and have instructed the Transport Ministry and Prasarana Malaysia Berhad to conduct a full investigation," Malaysia's Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.
Siong said the collision was the first major accident in the Malaysian metro system's 23 years of operation. He pledged a thorough investigation, according to Reuters.
Prasarana Malaysia said it will give an RM1,000 compensation package for the injured passengers. Its chairperson, Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, said the incident was beyond the company's control, adding it will take full responsibility over the matter.
Rahman also said that Prasana will also cover the cost for those who lost their income because of the accident.
"We will help them with their living expenses for a reasonable number of days until they are fit to go back to work," the chairperson said in remarks quoted by the Malay Mail.
