PRELIMINARY findings have identified negligence by a driver, which caused yesterday’s accident between two LRT trains at the underground stretch of line between KLCC and Kg Baru stations, said Wee Ka Siong.

The transport minister said the accident was caused by the hostler’s (driver) negligence in driving in the wrong direction.

“TR40 (train) was supposed to head south to Dang Wangi but had headed north for a different orientation that had caused the accident between TR40 and TR81.

“The preliminary report on the cause of the accident was by the Land Public Transport Agency,” he said at a press conference in Putrajaya today.

TR40 was an empty train with only the driver while TR81 had 213 passengers.

Wee had said the T40 train had technical issues and the driver was ordered to manually drive it from the Kg Baru station towards the Dang Wangi station.

Train 81, meanwhile, was operating automatically when it was carrying passengers and heading towards Kg Baru at 8.40pm from KLCC after receiving information that Train 40 was heading towards the Dang Wangi station.

He said at 8.33pm the driver called the command centre and informed them that Train 40 had collided with another train. At 8.37pm the driver identified Train 81 as the train it had crashed into.

On the investigations, Wee said a special task force has been set up and will be headed by Transport Ministry secretary-general Isham Ishak.

He said the nine-member investigating team will comprise personnel from various agencies who have been assigned to collate all investigation reports to be prepared into a final report.   

“This report will form the basis of a cabinet paper, which covers the preliminary report on the chronology of the incident, casualties, formation of a task force and investigation committee, and a plan of action including proposals for long-term improvements,” Wee said.

He added that any public communications regarding the investigation will be solely issued by the minister’s office.  

Wee also added that 21 passengers are still receiving treatment at Kuala Lumpur Hospital, while six victims are still in critical condition.

He said 15 passengers are still in a semi-critical condition, while 43 victims had been given outpatient treatment from an initial total of 64 persons who were brought to the hospital.  

“Prasarana Malaysia Bhd will bear all medical treatment costs of the victims, including follow-up treatment and compensate for the loss of income,” Wee added. – May 25, 2021.