19 killed in three road accidents<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Blitar\/Yogyakarta\/Padang<\/p>\n
At least 19 people were killed and many others injured in
\nseparate accidents involving trains and vehicles on Java and
\nSumatra islands on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Police said 11 women traveling to an Islamic prayer meeting
\nand a three-year-old boy were killed when a passenger train hit
\ntheir pickup truck at a railway crossing in Kendal Rejo village,
\nTalun district, Blitar regency, East Java.<\/p>\n
Ten of them were killed instantly and another victim died
\nafter undergoing more than five hours of surgery in hospital.<\/p>\n
A five-year-old girl is being still being treated in the same
\nhospital for serious injuries after the deadly accident, which
\ntook place at around 9 a.m.<\/p>\n
The Penataran train was traveling from Surabaya to Blitar when
\nit hit the overloaded truck, which was carrying 18 passengers, on
\nthe unguarded crossing.<\/p>\n
The pickup driver and four women passengers survived as they
\nwere able to jump out of the Daihatsu truck before it was struck
\nby the train.<\/p>\n
Blitar Police traffic chief First Insp. Muhammad Toro said the
\naccident occurred as the pickup truck's engine suddenly stalled
\nas it was crossing the tracks.<\/p>\n
\"The driver told us that he did not see the train coming
\nbecause his view was impeded by trees,\" Toro told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
The truck was dragged some 600 meters along the tracks.<\/p>\n
Blitar Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Suko Widodo, who visited
\nthe scene, said the unnamed driver was being detained for
\nquestioning.<\/p>\n
Eyewitness Siswanto said he was shocked by the accident, and
\nespecially by the fact that many of the victims had been thrown
\nquite far from the truck. \"Local residents immediately came to
\ntheir aid, but most of them were already dead,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The local police said they were concerned that there was no
\nbarrier at the crossing. \"We have advised the railway company to
\nprovide barriers but so far there has been no response,\" police
\nCapt. Atmaji told AP.<\/p>\n
A train plowed into two motorbikes at the same crossing in
\nJanuary, killing two people, he added.<\/p>\n
Muryanto, a local official for the state-owned rail company,
\nwas quoted as saying there were barriers at the main crossing in
\ntown, but that the driver had used a popular shortcut which had
\nno barriers and was intended for pedestrians.<\/p>\n
In the Central Java town of Magelang, at least four people
\ndied and 18 others were injured when two buses and four cars were
\ninvolved in a pileup at around 1 p.m. in Jumoyo village, Salam
\ndistrict.<\/p>\n
Three of the victims died at the scene, while a two-month-old
\nbaby died in Muntilan hospital.<\/p>\n
Juweri, 43, the driver of an Isuzu Panther van involved in the
\naccident, said the crash began when a passenger bus hit a
\nMitsubishi Colt T van from the left-hand side.<\/p>\n
\"The Colt veered to the right and then hit by a cargo bus
\ntraveling in the opposite direction,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The cargo bus then propelled the Colt T van a few meters
\nforward, killing three of its passengers immediately. Both
\nvehicles were traveling at high speed when the accident occurred.<\/p>\n
Three other cars -- an Isuzu Panther, a Mitsubishi L-300 and a
\nDaihatsu -- which all behind the Colt T van, were also hit by the
\nvan.<\/p>\n
The baby, who was a passenger aboard the L-300 van, died in
\nthe hospital.<\/p>\n
Separately, three passengers died and seven were badly injured
\nwhen a truck and a L-300 van collided and plunged into a 60-meter
\ndeep ravine in the hilly Bung Hatta forest, Padang, West Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Police said the accident took place at 11 a.m. as the brakes
\nof the truck, which was traveling from Solok city to Padang,
\nfailed on a twisting road. It then ran out of control, and hit
\nthe van which was traveling in the same direction.<\/p>\n
Train accidents are common on the country's aging railway
\nnetwork, while vehicular crashes are often blamed on recklessness
\nand overloading.<\/p>\n
At least 10 people were killed in April when a train crashed
\ninto a minibus on Java, and 74 died in similar accidents last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Two months ago, a train hit a car at a railway crossing in
\nJember regency, East Java. Seven passengers of the car, who were
\nall on their way to a wedding party, perished in the accident.<\/p>",
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