Eight killed in Brebes traffic accident<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana and Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Brebes, Central Java<\/p>\n
A semitrailer slammed into a chartered Mitsubishi minivan early
\non Wednesday morning in the Central Java regency of Brebes,
\nleaving eight people dead and 12 others injured.<\/p>\n
All of the dead and injured were passengers of the minivan.<\/p>\n
The Brebes Regency Hospital and the Brebes Police identified
\nthe dead as Nurkholik, 25, the driver of the minivan, Sarpin, 23,
\nRokhim Bidin, 29, Kasyamin, 26, Wasjan, 36, Nat Taryanto, 30,
\nKisno, 26 and Didi, 54. All eight were residents of Ketanggungan
\ndistrict, Brebes regency.<\/p>\n
The 12 people injured in the accident are being treated at the
\nBrebes Regency Hospital.<\/p>\n
The accident, which occurred some 20 kilometers west of
\ndowntown Brebes, began when a truck driven by Sugiyani, 48,
\npassed through Kecipir subdistrict in Brebes.<\/p>\n
The empty semitrailer, owned by PT Krakatau Steel, was
\ntraveling west to Jakarta from the Central Java capital of
\nSemarang.<\/p>\n
As the truck passed through Kecipir at about 12:30 a.m. on
\nWednesday, a bus passed it on the left side, Sugiyani said.<\/p>\n
"I was surprised and out of reflex I turned the wheel sharply
\nto the right," the driver told police, adding that as a result
\nthe truck swung into the oncoming lane.<\/p>\n
At the same time, a bus and the chartered minivan were
\napproaching the semitrailer from the opposite direction. The bus
\nwas able to avoid an accident thanks to evasive measures taken by
\nits driver, Sophian Hadi.<\/p>\n
But the chartered Permata Indah minivan, which was behind the
\nbus, could not avoid a head-on collision with the semitrailer.<\/p>\n
Three of the minivan passengers died instantly. Five others
\npassed away at the Brebes Regency Hospital and the Bhakti Asih
\nHospital.<\/p>\n
The chief of the Brebes Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Bambang
\nPurwanto, said the driver of the semitrailer, Sugiyani, had been
\nnamed a suspect in the accident. The police suspect that Sugiyani
\nmay have been dozing behind the wheel.<\/p>\n
One of the minivan passengers who survived the accident,
\nTarmidi, who is being treated at the Brebes Regency Hospital,
\nsaid the minivan was carrying 20 people. All of the passengers
\nwere construction workers traveling from Jakarta to their home
\nvillages.<\/p>\n
Tarmidi said he and his friends, all residents of Ketanggungan
\ndistrict in Brebes, were going home to celebrate the holy month
\nof Ramadhan and the Idul Fitri holiday.<\/p>\n
"In order to save money, we chartered the minivan. We left
\nJakarta on Tuesday afternoon," Tarmidi said.<\/p>\n
The accident took place less than a month after a similar
\naccident in Situbondo, East Java, on Oct. 9, in which 55 people,
\nincluding 49 schoolgirls, were killed.<\/p>",
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