Road mishaps kill 80 in two weeks<\/p>\n
JAKARTA: At least 80 people were killed and more than 100
\nothers injured, many critically, in road accidents in Java,
\nSumatra and Sulawesi over the past two weeks, press reports said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
On Sunday alone 20 people were killed in a collision between a
\nbus and a truck in Meulaboh, southern Aceh. Several others were
\nseriously injured.<\/p>\n
The accident occurred when one of the bus's tires blew up,
\ncausing the bus to careen to the other side of the road and into
\nan oncoming truck.<\/p>\n
The Medan-based Waspada daily quoted eyewitnesses as saying
\nthat the bus was traveling so fast that its driver could not keep
\ncontrol after the blow-out.<\/p>\n
All the victims were bus passengers. They were on their way to
\na recreational center in the regency to celebrate the Idul Fitri
\nholiday.<\/p>\n
Also on Sunday, a crowded bus slipped into a ravine in the
\njungle of Sembahe, North Sumatra, critically injuring 20
\npassengers, Antara reported yesterday.<\/p>\n
The accident happened after the driver lost control of his
\nspeeding Sinabung Jaya bus, the police said.<\/p>\n
Near the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu, another calamity
\noccurred when flatbed of a speeding pick-up truck, jammed with 21
\npeople in the back, fell apart, killing one and seriously
\ninjuring the rest.<\/p>\n
The truck, on its way from Donggala to Palu carrying Idul
\nFitri holidaymakers, suddenly lost its back railings going around
\na bend, police said.<\/p>\n
In the West Java city of Bandung, the police have recorded 56
\ndeaths and 60 injuries -- 24 of which were serious -- over the
\npast fortnight in various places throughout the province.<\/p>\n
West Java police chief Maj. Gen. Soebandy said the majority of
\nthe fatal road accidents could be attributed to the lack of
\nmotorist discipline.<\/p>\n
Last night, Antara reported that four people and dozens others
\nwere injured in separate road accidents on busy northern Java
\nhighways as tens of thousands of people streamed back to Jakarta
\nafter spending their holidays in Central and East Java. (rms\/pan)<\/p>",
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