Hooligans leave trains vandalized<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Visiting soccer fans from Surabaya and Semarang
\ncaused at least Rp 500 million (US$58,823) in damage to trains of
\nthe state railway company Perumka, a company spokesman said on
\nSunday.<\/p>\n
Zainal Abidin said the material losses were mainly due to
\nbroken windows of the trains, including the express Jakarta-
\nSurabaya Argo Bromo.<\/p>\n
\"At least 1,900 window panes were damaged,\" Zainal said.<\/p>\n
Cost of replacing the Argo's windows, for example, could reach
\nRp 1 million each, he added.<\/p>\n
Zainal said the cost calculation was tentative.<\/p>\n
Thousands of soccer fans, locally known as bonek, of PSIS
\nSemarang and Persebaya Surabaya flocked to the capital beginning
\non Wednesday to watch Thursday's semifinals in the Indonesian
\nSoccer League playoffs at Senayan stadium in Central Jakarta.
\nBoth teams made the final.<\/p>\n
However, some of the fans started pelting passing trains upon
\ntheir arrival in the city.<\/p>\n
About 12 hours before the game started, nine PSIS fans were
\nfatally crushed by a speeding train on a railway track in South
\nJakarta. Another man was electrocuted on a train roof in East
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Fears of possible unrest and more fatalities led the soccer
\nauthorities to reschedule Sunday's final from Jakarta to Manado,
\nNorth Sulawesi, on either April 9 or April 10.<\/p>\n
At busy Senen Railway Station in Central Jakarta on Sunday,
\ndozens of Persebaya fans packed a train for a free ride home.<\/p>\n
\"We have supplied them with dozens of lunch boxes today but
\nthey will still ask for cigarettes and snacks in the afternoon,\"
\nSecond Lt. Prawito from the riot police said.<\/p>\n
Separately, 500 fans were transported on seven military trucks
\nfrom Senen to Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta, awaiting the
\narrival of Navy ships to transport them to Surabaya.<\/p>\n
Many of the fans, notable for their disheveled appearance and
\nbrash attitude, remained wandering through the city on Sunday
\nevening.<\/p>\n
A police source said penniless soccer fans were spotted
\nbusking and extorting money from passersby along the capital's
\nmain thoroughfares. (emf)<\/p>",
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