Kuala Lumpur  - A young Thai national was killed Wednesday when the bus she was travelling in plunged into a ravine along a major highway in the north-eastern Malaysian state of Terengganu.

Initial investigations revealed that the interstate bus, which was carrying 22 passengers - out of which 15 were Thai nationals - was speeding when the accident occurred early Wednesday, said state deputy police chief Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman,

"When the bus came to the sharp bend of the road, it went out of control and plunged into the ravine and overturned," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Police have identified the deceased as 11-year-old Anna Mail Amin.

Anna was found pinned underneath the vehicle when rescue workers arrived at the accident scene, said Jalaluddin.

Both the driver and the co-driver, along with the other passengers, suffered injuries and have been sent to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Jalaluddin said police are questioning the survivors as well as the driver to determine the cause of the crash.

Earlier this month, another long-distance bus was involved in an accident where one passenger was killed. The bus was later found to have accumulated numerous traffic offences, most of which were for speeding.

Last year, there were several major accidents involving interstate holiday buses which were later found to be more than a decade old and unfit for travel.

In many of the cases, the driver as well as the buses were found to have been issued numerous summonses for traffic offences, fuelling calls for authorities to amend road laws to enable repeat offenders and guilty travel companies to be punished and their vehicles taken off the roads. (dpa)