'Stop the bus!' Panic on Singapore-KL coach as sparks fall from ceiling

Chaos ensued on a cross-border coach bus when bright orange sparks appeared to fall from a ceiling panel. 

According to a video posted by SG Daily on its social media accounts last Thursday (Dec 18), the incident occurred on an express bus travelling from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. 

Passengers are heard screaming that there is a "fire" and it is an "emergency". 

"F***ing stop the bus!" a man is heard exclaiming. "Open the gate!" 

As the man continues yelling in shock, another passenger is heard saying that they are currently on a highway. 

The clip then cuts to photos of a bus with a "KS Global Holidays" decal, and a ticket issued by operator StarMart Express dated to depart Singapore on the night of Dec 5. KS Global Holidays is a Malaysian travel agency. 

It is unclear if the affected bus is operated by KS Global Holidays or StarMart Express. Both companies have not issued public responses on the incident. 

The video has garnered mixed reactions from netizens, several of whom wondered why the driver did not stop the vehicle. 

"Driver should know the safety procedure... if [there is a] fire he needs to evacuate all passengers from the bus before the fire spreads," said a TikTok user. 

However, others poked fun at the reaction of the passengers. 

"Whats the point of shouting and panicking? Keep calm and evacuate... only making the situation worse," wrote one user. 

"Open the gate? What gate?" asked another. 

Some netizens responded in defence of the passengers, noting that they were most probably in a state of panic and anxiety. 

"For those of y'all asking which gate. Let's just hope none of y'all experience these types of tragedies so you wouldn't feel the same trauma and panic. Hope everyone got out safe and without bad health conditions afterwards physically and psychologically," a social media user summed up. 

AsiaOne has reached out to KS Global for comments. 

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com