According to the New Straits Times, 213 people were injured and 47 of them suffered serious injury, which ultimately caused six of them to be placed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Photos and videos of the harrowing incident went viral on social media, subsequently sparking outrage among Malaysians as they wonder how could an incident like this happen.
Crisis management gone wrong?
This is the first time an accident has happened in the railway’s 23-year-old history, but how the company handled the whole thing poured even more fuel to netizens’ rage.
From calling the accident an incident, to why its chairman Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was not present at the night of the accident and how he handled the press conference (which honestly, lacked empathy), Malaysians had a lot to say about them on social media:
"I was supposed to get my second dose today, you know? So, I made up my mind to come here the first thing in the morning. Tau the first thing in the morning? Tau cakap omputeh?"
— Ed Junaidi (@edjunaidi) May 25, 2021
What an asshole. Berbaloi ke asshole mcm ni dapat vaksin lebih awal? https://t.co/kj8hfWcbEY
Ketahuilah nyawa kita tidak ada nilai kepada mereka. Kecederaan yang dialami oleh 64 penumpang semalam dipandang enteng.
— Jebs ?? (@_TheJebs) May 25, 2021
Nak cakap tentang trauma yang dialami penumpang yang tiada kecederaan fizikal? Hah, lagilah dia tak faham. https://t.co/Nl2Jyriv73
No empathy from prasarana side, no sense of urgency. No manners, not professional handling reporters, such a failed press conference.
— ً (@TheOnlyFatin) May 25, 2021
All 213 passengers should be offended and go ahead with a class action. This is serious issue involving people life! #LrtKelanaJaya https://t.co/nNO7Z7aobw
A company which has a revenue of RM1.1 billion, are only giving a cheque of RM 213,000 for those injured in their services, far from acceptable, imagine the trauma, the injuries and the time spent to recover, beyond ridiculous.#prasarana #LrtKelanaJaya https://t.co/XQKeSlITv0
— I'M NK (@Naven_Selva) May 25, 2021
Just wanna makes clear about something, is the train accident or incident?
— Sinotharan Ganesan (@sinonetwork) May 25, 2021
Accident means sometime this machine totally get but if incidents means is it terrorist actack? You know what I’m talking about. Im just curious ? #GazaUnderAttack #israel #LrtKelanaJaya pic.twitter.com/YfR4icRN7n
All my knowledge of law comes from binging the Suits series, but I still think the victims of the LRT Kelana Jaya incident are entitled to file a class action law suit towards the company. RM1000 is too small of a compensation for that big of a negligence.
— Emon Lusk (@arifsupie) May 25, 2021
so Prasarana Rapidkl announced RM1000 compensation for passengers involved in LRT crash incident last night including 60+ victims in hospital. RM1k only? for this? Seriously? Bleedy & Traumatized. RM1k? @AskRapidKL @CareerPrasarana @tajuddinrahman pic.twitter.com/NacKmZHbnM
— vintage_vijay (@vintage_vijay01) May 25, 2021
All the victims who suffered from the LRT collision should sue, get lawyered up and take it to court. Such negligence resulted multiple casualties and Prasarana is only giving them RM1000? That’s not even enough adding with the amount of trauma they experience
— ??♀️ (@smhbelle) May 25, 2021
Tajuddin: Where are you from?
— Norman Goh (@imnormgoh) May 25, 2021
Phoenix TV correspondent: China.
Tajuddin: China, no wonderlah.
That's really embarrassing seeing how Prasarana's chairman behaviour to the press. pic.twitter.com/qm2RfalcSJ
Pasir Salak is a masterclass in failures of crisis management as Chairman.
— A. (@aziff90) May 25, 2021
1. No immediate statement acknowledging and assuring the public.
2. Late to respond to crisis.
3. Denial of SOP failures, even with evidence.
4. Defiance in face of accountability. https://t.co/YH3gW6xoTs
Compensation for victims
Investigations on the accident is currently underway, and the company has announced that they will be giving out RM1,000 as compensation to affected passengers as well as paying for their medical bills and loss of income (if any).
This, too, did not sit well with Malaysians as they felt that the company could’ve done more and encouraged the victims to file a class action lawsuit against the company.
According to the Malay Mail, the Pasir Salak MP was not present during the accident because he had a meeting with an unamed company at the time of the event and was unaware of it until it was late.
He then revealed that he had to prepare for his second vaccination dose the next day.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this traumatising fiasco and we hope that they will recover soon.