Deadly crash as SBY convoy passes<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's trip to Jakarta from his
\nhouse in Cikeas, Bogor, on Wednesday morning was an ill-fated
\none, as traffic direction to allow his convoy to pass may have
\ncaused a deadly accident, in which six people were killed and 10
\nothers injured.<\/p>\n
As the President was about to pass the Jagorawi toll road,
\nseveral highway patrol officers got out off their sedan to stop
\nvehicles passing the road several meters before Cibubur entrance
\ngate, according to witnesses.<\/p>\n
A queue of cars soon formed behind the sedan. Suddenly, a
\nspeeding bus coming from the direction of Bogor rammed into the
\nqueue, creating havoc. Five people were killed instantly at the
\nscene, one died later in hospital, and at least 10 people were
\ninjured, some seriously.<\/p>\n
\"I saw a police car stop our rented minivan and other
\nvehicles, and I thought: 'Some important people must be about to
\npass',\" Ondo Sukmana said on Wednesday afternoon from his
\nhospital bed.<\/p>\n
\"Later, some time after our minivan stopped, something hit it
\nfrom behind. In my memory, everything seemed to happen very fast,
\nI cannot remember the details clearly,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Ten minutes after the fatal accident, the President's
\nentourage passed, witnesses said.<\/p>\n
The accident raised speculation that the police had stopped
\nthe speeding cars too abruptly, catching some drivers off guard.
\nBut the police, and even a presidential spokesman, dismissed the
\nexplanation.<\/p>\n
Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng held an impromptu
\npress conference afterward to convey Susilo's condolences to the
\nvictims and their families, and to provide an explanation of the
\naccident.<\/p>\n
\"The police did their duty according to the standard
\nprocedure, but the bus driver couldn't stop the bus, so it hit
\nthe cars in front,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Andi added that the government would cover the medical costs
\nof the injured victims.<\/p>\n
The police also blamed the bus driver, Iwan Wargasasmita, 48,
\nfor the accident, detaining him.<\/p>\n
Head of the East Jakarta Police's traffic division in Kebon
\nNanas, Sr. Comr. Djoko Susilo, claimed that the bus driver had
\nlost control, ramming into at least two cars, which then hit
\nother cars in the queue.<\/p>\n
He said that the black bus, belonging to PO Garuda, was going
\nat at least 80 kilometers per hour.<\/p>\n
\"The driver was probably so surprised to see that cars had
\nstopped that he veered to the right, hitting the back of a
\npickup truck in Lane 2, and brushing a Mitsubishi minibus in Lane
\n3,\" Djoko said, adding that two people in the pickup truck were
\nkilled.<\/p>\n
He said the pickup truck then hit the green Kijang van in
\nfront of it, which later hit the public minivan in which four
\npeople were killed.<\/p>\n
He dismissed the allegation that the police had stopped the
\ncars abruptly. \"It's not true. My officer did his job according
\nto the procedure, which is stopping passing vehicles three
\nkilometers before the entourage passes, or at least 10 minutes
\nbefore.<\/p>\n
\"We suspect that the driver of the bus lost control, and that
\nthe bus' tires were all bald, so he could not stop the bus,<\/p>\n
\"The suspect said he had seen the cars stopping from 500
\nmeters away, but he could not stop the bus,\" Djoko said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, driver Iwan told detik.com news portal that the
\ncars had not all stopped vertically to the road, but that some
\nhad stopped perpendicular to it.<\/p>\n
Iwan said he veered the bus into the right lane, which he
\nthought was clear of cars, but had still hit a vehicle that had
\nstopped there, also at a right angle to the road.<\/p>\n
Djoko, nevertheless, promised that the police would
\ninvestigate the accident thoroughly by questioning all available
\nwitnesses.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/deadly-crash-as-sby-convoy-passes-1447893297",
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