Kuala Lumpur - A Malaysian bus driver and one of his passengers were killed when the vehicle crashed head-on with a cement tanker early Tuesday, a news report said.

The pre-dawn incident occurred along a highway while the bus was heading from the northern Kedah state to the southern state of Malacca, said district police chief Roslan Bek Ahmad.

The 24-year-old bus driver was thrown out of the vehicle, while a 17-year old passenger was pinned in between the two vehicles, Roslan was quoted as saying by the Star online news portal.

Roslan said both died on the spot, adding that 16 other passengers received treatment for slight injuries.

"Based on statements taken from the passengers, we suspect the bus driver could have been sleepy," he said.

The driver of the tanker was unharmed, the report said.

Roslan said blood and urine samples have been taken from the driver to test if he had been driving under the influence of illegal substances.

Malaysian interstate buses are notorious for their dilapidated condition and reckless, sometimes intoxicated, drivers.

Earlier this year and 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)