Haze blamed for five deaths in horror crash<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan<\/p>\n
An early morning collision involving a bus and a people
\ncarrier, which claimed the lives of five people, occurred in
\nthick haze caused by forest fires in central Malaysia and Riau.<\/p>\n
Rajamin Sirait, the director of operations for PMH bus
\ncompany, which serves the Jakarta-to-Medan route, told The
\nJakarta Post on Tuesday that their bus driver, Silalahi, said
\nthat when the collision occurred last Sunday, visibility in the
\narea was down to just 40 meters.<\/p>\n
Head of Medan Geophysics and Meteorology Office Firman
\nconfirmed that the haze in the area was at its worst when the
\naccident occurred. \"Morning visibility was between just 20 meters
\nand 30 meters,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to Firman, the thick haze was due to raging fires in
\nthe central part of neighboring Malaysia and in Riau province.<\/p>\n
\"There are 21 separate fires in Malaysia and one in Riau. The
\nhaze from these fires had spread to the Malacca Straits, Asahan
\nand Labuhan Batu in Northeast Sumatra,\" he said, adding that the
\narea had been covered by haze for the last few weeks.<\/p>\n
However, only Labuhan Batu and Asahan were still shrouded in
\ngloom. Haze in the other places, including Medan, had cleared.<\/p>\n
In Medan, which saw the number of flights to and from the city
\ncanceled last week, visibility is now up to 8,000 meters.<\/p>\n
The driver of the bus, who sustained light injuries from the
\naccident, said that because of reduced visibility, he was only
\nable to drive slowly.<\/p>\n
But when the bus, which was traveling from Jakarta to Medan,
\nreached the village of Aek Pamingke at around 3 a.m., the driver
\nsaid he could not see the Mitsubishi L-300 people carrier coming
\nfrom the opposite direction.<\/p>\n
\"I didn't see it coming. The collision happened so fast,\"
\nRajamin quoted Silalahi as saying.<\/p>\n
Five members of the same family died instantly, namely
\nRasiyati, 45; Melda, 15; Lela, 20; Lina, 30; and the driver of
\nthe people carrier, Junaidi, 38.<\/p>\n
Only one passenger of the people carrier survived, an
\n18-month-old baby girl. Seven others were still in a critical
\ncondition in state-run Pirngadi General Hospital in Medan. They
\nare Arif, 9, Herman 35, Ari Sumanto, 32, M. Aulia Rahmat, 15, and
\nM. Yunus, 53 -- who are all residents of Kelambir V Gang Waru,
\nDeli Serdang -- and Hamdani, 32, and Hisyam, 52, residents of
\nBanda Aceh and Binjai, North Sumatra.<\/p>\n
They were traveling to Pekanbaru after attending a family
\ngathering in Deli Serdang. There were no casualties traveling on
\nthe PMH bus.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/haze-blamed-for-five-deaths-in-horror-crash-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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