More witnesses give their accounts of bus tragedy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Three more witnesses came forward yesterday and
\ngave their testimonies at the North Jakarta District Court in the
\ntrial of Ramses Silitonga.<\/p>\n
The Metro Mini driver was at the wheel when his bus plunged
\ninto the Sunter river last March, killing 33 passengers.<\/p>\n
The first witness, 28-year-old Elin Sari Handayani, was one of
\nthe 13 survivors.<\/p>\n
Elin told judge Soemaryono that at 10:00 a.m. on March 6,
\n1994, she and her 29-year-old husband, Minandar, boarded the bus,
\nwhich plies the Semper-Senen route via Jl. Yos Sudarso, North
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
She said that there were no empty seats when she and her
\nhusband got on the bus and that they had to stand near the front
\ndoor during the journey.<\/p>\n
\"When the bus reached Jl. Yos Sudarso, the driver started
\ndriving at around 100 kilometers per hour. I heard some women
\nscreaming to the driver, but he simply ignored them. My husband
\nthen grabbed me to prevent me from falling,\" Elin said.<\/p>\n
She then told the judge that the driver kept on speeding,
\ndespite the fact that the road was riddled with potholes.<\/p>\n
\"The potholes were forcing the bus to bounce so hard. The next
\nthing I knew, the bus was scraping along the concrete sidewalk
\nwall and then plunged into the river,\" she said.<\/p>\n
When the bus plunged into the water, Elin said she managed to
\nescape through the front door. The black water, however,
\nprevented her from reaching, or even seeing, her husband.<\/p>\n
\"The water was heavily polluted. I could hardly open my eyes
\nto see where my husband was. When somebody standing on top of the
\nbus saved me I panicked because my husband was not there,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Later, while still in the Islamic Hospital in East Jakarta,
\nElin learned that her husband had been killed in the crash.<\/p>\n
\"I spent seven days at the hospital and my husband was buried
\nwithout my presence,\" she told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
She said her husband, a law school graduate from Pancasila
\nUniversity, was preparing for his graduation day.<\/p>\n
The second witness, Rozi Targo, lives near where the accident
\ntook place.<\/p>\n
He told the judge that on March 6, while sitting on his front
\nporch, he suddenly saw a bus plunge into the river that is
\nlocated across from his house.<\/p>\n
Raft<\/p>\n
\"When I arrived at the location I dove into the river and then
\nordered my friends to help me by bringing me a wooden raft. I
\nsucceeded in saving around nine people with the raft,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Rozi was then asked to look at Ramses's face and when asked if
\nhe remembered seeing Ramses at the scene of the disaster, Rozi
\nsaid: \"I did not see him at the accident scene.\"<\/p>\n
The third witness was a cigarette kiosk owner named Ita
\nRashim, whose kiosk is located 100 meters from the accident site.<\/p>\n
He could not give the judge any important information as he
\nhad been too far from the site to see how it really happened.<\/p>\n
\"I could only see the roof of the bus sinking into the water,\"
\nIta said.<\/p>\n
It is alleged that on March 6, 1993, Ramses was driving Metro
\nMini (smaller-sized) bus P07 along Jl. Yos Sudarso in North
\nJakarta at a speed of between 70 and 90 kilometers per hour.<\/p>\n
According to the prosecution, he continued speeding despite
\nthe screaming from a number of passengers that there were
\nchildren aboard.<\/p>\n
The prosecution claims that Ramses then lost control of the
\nbus which, shortly afterwards, plunged into the Sunter River.<\/p>\n
Twenty people died at the scene of the accident, 13 died later
\nin hospital and another 13 were injured.<\/p>\n
Ramses, 33, evaded the police and went into hiding in North
\nSumatra, his home province. Police arrested him six months later
\ndespite an attempt made by Ramses to change his identity.<\/p>\n
Police said Ramses had been living in Tanjung Mulia village in
\nthe Kampung Rakyat district, Labuhan Batu regency. He had been
\nworking for PT Pemudjur, a timber mill, under the name of Ucok
\nSitompul. (mas)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/more-witnesses-give-their-accounts-of-bus-tragedy-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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