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One person died and 12 people were injured when a bus carrying Japanese tourists crashed into a truck in Malaysia.
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One person died and 12 people were injured when a bus carrying Japanese tourists crashed into a truck in Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Japanese tourist was killed and 12 others were injured when his tour bus rear-ended a truck on a highway. Malaysiaone of Japan’s largest travel agencies said in a statement on Friday.

JTB Corp. said the crash occurred on Thursday in Malaysia’s central Perak state as the bus was heading from Penang to Cameron Highlands, a popular tourist destination dotted with tea plantations.

JTB President and CEO Eijiro Yamakita said at a press conference in Tokyo that a woman in her 70s died from her injuries.

Malaysia’s fire and rescue department said the bus was occupied by three men and eight women, all senior citizens, along with a bus driver and a local tour guide from Japan. In the statement, it was stated that all 13 victims were removed on stretchers and taken to the hospital after initial treatment was given on site.

Some of the survivors were seriously injured, Yamakita said. He said their exact condition was unknown and the cause of the accident was being investigated.

Images provided by the fire department show the front of the bus badly crushed and its windshield broken.

“As a travel agency, we are truly sorry for this incident and offer our deepest apologies,” Yamakita said.

The company said it was fully cooperating with local authorities and the Japanese embassy in Malaysia and had sent staff from Tokyo as well as its Kuala Lumpur office to provide support to passengers and their relatives.

Yamakita said the bus was rented by a local tour operator and met JTB’s safety standards.

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AP writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed from Tokyo.