SUNGAI PETANI: The school van which skidded into a drain in Tikam Batu here, leaving 16 pupils injured, was travelling without insurance coverage and road tax.
This was discovered after traffic police opened an investigation into the 7.40am incident which also left the van's 43-year-old driver with a minor head injury.
Kuala Muda police chief Assistant Commissioner Zaidy Che Hassan said checks revealed that the insurance and road tax for the van had expired on March 9 this year.
"Initial investigations showed that the driver from Pantai Merdeka, Kota Kuala Muda did not doze off behind the wheel when he lost control of the vehicle.
"We have reclassified the case, it is now being investigated under Section 43(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987," he said in a statement.
The van was travelling from Taman Sejati to send the victims - 10 boys and six girls aged between seven and 12 years old to SMK(A) and SK(A) Al-Islah Pinang Tunggal when it skidded and crashed into a drain near Taman Rhu.
One of the girls broke her right arm while the other victims escaped with minor injuries.
They were rushed to the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital, here, for treatment.