KEPALA BATAS — The Social Welfare Department (JKM) is assisting students from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) who sustained permanent disabilities in the recent bus crash by facilitating their applications for the Person with Disabilities (PwD) card.
Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad said the ministry is compiling details of students who suffered long-term injuries in the June 9 incident, and has begun reaching out to offer support.
“We are still determining the exact number of affected students, as we are waiting for medical assessments,” she told reporters today.
Noraini, who also serves as Umno Women chief, was speaking after officiating the Kepala Batas Umno Women, Youth and Puteri Division delegates’ meeting. Also present was Kepala Batas Umno chief and Bertam assemblyman Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican.
She said counselling sessions are ongoing for survivors and the families of those who died, including the family travelling in the Perodua Alza involved in the crash, many of whom remain deeply traumatised.
“Ongoing psychological support is crucial, especially for those grieving the loss of loved ones. I visited the Alza family yesterday, and they are still visibly shaken,” she said.
The crash occurred at KM53 of the East–West Highway near Tasik Banding, Gerik, when a chartered bus carrying UPSI students from Jertih, Terengganu, to the university’s Tanjung Malim campus overturned.
Fifteen students were killed, while 33 others — including the bus driver and co-driver, as well as the driver and three passengers of the Alza — were injured. — June 29, 2025