[Watch] Burst Tire, Broken Trust: Chinese Tourist’s Penang Nightmare
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A tyre explosion on a public bus in Penang left a Chinese tourist with leg injuries, after which she chose to return home rather than seek hospital treatment locally.
The incident occurred recently in front of Komtar at Jalan Ria.
The victim, a 33-year-old Chinese tourist, was riding Penang’s free public bus with her mother when the left rear tyre suddenly burst with explosive force.
The tyre explosion was powerful enough to blast a hole through the bus floor directly beneath where the tourist was sitting.
Flying debris from the explosion cut both of her legs, causing her significant pain.
Emergency Response at the Scene
Following the explosion, medical personnel arrived at the scene and provided the injured tourist with preliminary treatment in an ambulance.
The tourist complained of severe pain from her wounds.
After the incident, the tourist and her mother went to file a police report.
At the police station, they encountered significant communication barriers.
“We had communication obstacles with the police and had to rely on machine translation for difficult conversations,” the tourist later explained via the social media platform Xiaohongshu.
Decision to Return Home Without Hospital Treatment
Despite her injuries, the tourist and her mother decided against going to a hospital in Penang for further treatment.
The tourist explained that her mother was concerned about efficiency and language communication issues at local hospitals and potential delays to their travel plans.
We were both frightened, and our first instinct was to return home.
The pair stuck to their original schedule and boarded their flight back to Shanghai on Saturday (8 March).
Current Condition and Bus Company’s Response
The tourist reported that while her injuries weren’t severe, the wounds were bruised and swollen, currently preventing her from walking normally.
She expressed dissatisfaction that no one from the bus company came forward to resolve the matter, offered an apology, or provided compensation for medical expenses.
Rapid Penang said they have proactively contacted the tourist and will provide appropriate support and assistance.
The company is conducting an internal investigation to determine the cause of the accident and will implement urgent measures to prevent similar incidents.
Parts of this story have been sourced from Sin Chew.
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