SHAH ALAM: A bus driver who ferried football fans from Kedah to watch the Malaysia Cup final, here, last night (Sat) was found dead in the vehicle believed to be due to a heart attack hours before the kick-off of the match.
Shah Alam district police chief Assistant Commissioner Shafien Mamat said the deceased was identified as 51-year-old M. Batumalai.
"Batumalai was found unconscious in the bus' driver's seat by a friend at about 7pm. It was after the fans were dropped off at the Shah Alam stadium after arriving from Kedah in the afternoon. The friend subsequently alerted policemen who were stationed outside of the stadium.
"A medical team from the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital carried out checks and declared Batumalai dead. A post mortem showed that Batumalai had died of a heart attack. His family living in Penang had been notified and they had also confirmed that Batumalai suffered from heart ailments," said Shafien.
Shafien said this case has been classified as sudden death.
He said arrangements have been made for the second driver of the bus to drive the fans back to Kedah.
On a separate matter, Shafien said there were no untoward incident that took place during the final match which saw Johor Darul Ta'zim beating Kedah 2-0.
He said the situation was peaceful and under control due to tight security as well as the cooperation of football fans from both sides of the divide that had obeyed to the instructions given by the police.