At least 27 people were killed when a tour bus hit the road divider and overturned on Monday morning?in Perak, a northern state in the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia.

The incident took place at around 11:45 a.m. when the double- decker bus was on its way down from Cameron Highlands, one of the famous highlands in Pahang, the neighboring state of the Perak State in central Peninsula Malaysia.

Perak State police told reporters that the incident had claimed 27 lives, with 22 of them killed at the scene and five at a nearby hospital, leaving at least 10 others injured.

According to the police, most of the passengers on board the ill-fated bus, including the driver, were Thais. It was learnt that there were 37 people on the bus when the tragedy took place.

Meanwhile, a hospital spokesman said that the four that succumbed to serious injuries at the hospital comprising three Malaysians of different races.

The sudden increase in number of patients requiring blood transfusion at the hospital has asserted much pressure on the later's blood bank.

In fact, the hospital has urged members of the public to donate blood for the injured victims as the blood stock is being depleted.

Preliminary investigations showed that the bus had lost control when descending the highlands, due possibly to speeding or brake failure, causing it to hit the road divider and ram into the hill on the roadside.

The bus overturned in a two-feet (about 0.6-meter) ditch, with one of its front wheels falling off the vehicle.

While all the tourists were Thais, the only three Malaysians on the bus were the driver, the co-driver and the tour guide respectively, said the police.

The death toll is expected to rise, given the serious level of injuries of the passengers.

The roads leading to the highlands have many sharp twists, with some of them being described as the "deadly turns" as the narrow and crooked roads can easily cause fatal accidents.

Devamany S Krishnasamy, member of parliament of the Cameron Highlands constituency, urged the Malaysian Public Works Department here on Monday to closely monitor the road conditions, especially when the number of tourists visiting the highlands were on the rise in recent years.