(AP)
Updated: 2007-08-13 17:00

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- An express bus overturned Monday, killing at least 19 people in what the Malaysian transport minister said was the worst traffic accident in the country's modern history.

A view of the wreckage of a Malaysian express bus that crashed near Taiping town in the northern state of Perak August 13, 2007. The bus smashed through a road barrier and plunged into a ditch, killing 19 people and injuring 10, police said, in one of the country's worst road accidents. [Reuters]

Ten others were hospitalized, including three who were in intensive care, said Raja Musa Raja Razak, police chief of the area where the accident occurred in northern Malaysia.

The bus driver and 18 passengers were killed, Raja Musa told The Associated Press by telephone from the site in Bukit Gantang, about 125 miles north of Kuala Lumpur.

"The impact of the accident ripped off the roof," Raja Musa said.

Local fire department spokesman Amirudin Kamarudin said there were no skid marks on the road, indicating the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

"It is the worst traffic accident in the (modern) history of the nation," said Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy, who visited the scene.

The accident occurred before dawn on the North-South Expressway, which runs the entire length of the country from the Thai border in the north to Johor Bahru at the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula.

National news agency Bernama said the private transport company bus was going downhill when it hit the curb and careened 20 yards off the road before flipping over and falling into a 20-feet-deep ditch.

Raja Musa said the weather was fine and the downhill slope was not steep.

Malaysia has a high-quality highway system with a speed limit of 70 miles per hour. But speeding is common, and many do not follow safety procedures; tailgating occurs frequently, as does failure to signal before changing lanes.