IPOH, Malaysia: The Government should make safety belts mandatory for express buses to minimise injuries and deaths from accidents.

Perak Gerakan publicity bureau chairman Choong Shean Yang said the safety of passengers would be greatly improved if seatbelts were used.

They would minimise injuries as passengers will not be thrown about during an accident or when the bus overturns, he said in a statement here Wednesday.

He said that the latest bus crash in Tangkak, Johor, on Sunday was a reminder that such a ruling was needed.

While bus operators had earlier objected to the move due to the cost, Choong said it was not valid anymore.

"Human life is more precious than the cost involved," he said.

In the Sunday incident, 10 people, including a nine-year-old girl, were killed when the express bus they were in skidded and crashed into a tree at KM146.5 of the North-South Expressway near Tangkak.

They were among 26 passengers and two drivers heading to Johor Baru and Singapore from Perak in the 2am mishap.

Seven died at the scene while the others succumbed to their injuries at the Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital here.