TAIPING, Malaysia (Kyodo) -- The driver of a bus carrying Japanese tourists that crashed into a trailer in Malaysia on Thursday, killing one of them, had previously been charged with a drug offense, a police officer said Saturday.

"He is a wanted man. There is a warrant of arrest for him because he failed to attend court for a narcotic offense," Mohamad Nasir Ismail, Taiping district police chief, told Kyodo News.

The police have yet to question the 41-year-old driver, who is currently in the hospital. His condition is reported to be stable.

Besides the driver, there were 11 Japanese tourists, aged between 58 and 80, and their Malaysian tour guide on the bus at the time of the crash.

They were traveling from Penang in the north to Cameron Highlands, a mountain resort known for its tea estates, when their bus rear-ended a trailer on the expressway near the town of Taiping in Perak state.

A 73-year-old woman from Nara Prefecture died following the accident. All the Japanese passengers who had been injured and sent to the hospital were discharged by Saturday.

Japanese travel agency JTB Corp. has said the victims were participating in an organized tour.