IPOH: Ten passengers were killed and two injured after a double-decker Sani Express bus skidded and hit the road divider at Km272.8 of the North-South Expressway as it was heading north, about 8km from the Ipoh Selatan toll plaza, early today.

The 12 people had been seated on the lower tier of the bus in the 1am accident, state traffic police chief Supt Wan Abdullah Ishak said.

The two drivers and the 36 other passengers were unhurt, he added.

Wan Abdullah said those killed in the accident were Shaharin Mohd Nor, 61, and his wife Supiah Adam, 46, both from Taman Setia in Klang, Selangor; Musa @ Ismail Abdullah, 64, from Gurun, Kedah; Mohd Shukri Mohd Ali, 22, of Sungai Besar, Selangor; Noor Jasmi Noordin, 25, from Kangar, Perlis; Mohd Bilal Osman, 22, from Sungai Besar, Selangor; Ng Kah Kit, 14, and his sister Ng Poh Ngoh, 23, from Alor Star, Kedah; Sharifah Raheel Al-Junid Syed Harun, 21, from Sungai Petani, Kedah; and a woman believed to be a Malay, who has yet to be identified.

Wan Abdullah told reporters the injured passengers were a soldier, Md Razip Fadzir, and Siti Munira Hashim, 30, from Langgar, Kedah. He said Md Razip was seriously injured.

They had been admitted to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital here, he said, adding that the 10 bodies had also been taken there.

Wan Abdullah said the bus departed Klang at 9pm yesterday for Kangar with 48 passengers.

"The bus skidded onto the road barrier to the left and veered to the divider on the right before coming to a halt," he said.

He said the metal barrier on the left side of the road pierced into the bus, and this was probably what caused the deaths and injury.

Wan Abdullah said police had detained the driver who was behind the wheel at the time of the accident.

It is understood that the driver had taken over the wheel after the bus had stopped at the Simpang Pulai lay-by just before Ipoh.

One of the passengers, Marziana Mahmud, 24, claimed the driver seemed to be drowsy just before the accident took place.

"The bus was unstable, veering to the left and right before the accident," claimed the passenger who was seated in a front seat on the upper deck.

Today's accident is a major one involving an express bus on the North-South Expressway in Perak, following that on Aug 13, 2007 when 20 people were killed and nine injured after an express bus skidded and plunged into a ditch at Km229 of the highway at Bukit Gantang near Taiping.