KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Two people were killed and 17 others seriously injured when the express bus they were in plunged into a 20m-deep ravine.

The express bus, owned by Genting Bhd, was heading from Genting Highlands to the city with 41 passengers, including several tourists from Singapore, Kuwait and other Middle Eastern countries, on board when the accident occurred.

The accident took place at 6.30pm at Km25.5 of the Karak Highway, a notorious accident-prone stretch.

The driver lost control of the vehicle while overtaking a car at a bend.

Gombak traffic police chief Deputy Superintendent Mohamed Rafik Mohamad Mustafa said the accident occurred during a downpour.

The two victims were Lim Chai Pee, 61, and an unidentified woman in her 40s from Seremban, whose husband was listed as critically injured.

Though emergency personnel rushed to the scene, the first to arrive were nearby Orang Asli, who extricated the man's body at 6.50pm.

Five Fire and Rescue Department vehicles with 45 men arrived at the scene at 6.54pm and they were joined by 20 ambulances from the Sungai Buloh and Kuala Lumpur Hospitals, and Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM) as well as the St John's Ambulance and Red Crescent Society.

The woman's body was removed from the wreckage at 8.20pm. Both victims were pinned to their seats.

The other passengers were rescued by about 8.50pm.

The 17 injured passengers were rushed to the Selayang Hospital, 17 others with lesser injuries were warded at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and three in HUKM.

The remaining two, as well as the driver, received outpatient treatment.

Meanwhile, the Genting Highlands rescue team was mobilised to the crash site within minutes of the accident yesterday evening.

A rescue team comprising 30 members, three ambulances and two fire brigades rushed to the scene, which was about 5.4km from the Gombak toll plaza.

In a statement issued by Resorts World Bhd yesterday, it was stated that the bus left the hill resort at 6pm and was on its way to the Pasar Rakyat bus terminal when the accident occurred.