11 killed, 23 injured in tollway accident
11 killed, 23 injured in tollway accident
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The investigation into a chain collision that claimed at least
eleven lives on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road early on Monday
had been closed as all the potential suspects were among the
dead, a police officer said.
"Of course, we will investigate the incident as far as we can,
but we will blame no one as all the possible suspects -- the
respective drivers of the two buses and the pickup that were
involved in the pileup were killed," Bekasi Police chief Comr.
Bachtiar H.T. said when asked about the police investigation into
the case here on Monday.
He added that the police could not blamed the buses' owners as
they knew nothing about the accident and had suffered losses in
the tragedy.
At least eleven people were killed and 21 others seriously
injured when two passenger buses and an L-300 colt pick-up were
involved in the accident near Cibatu village, Lemah Abang
district, Bekasi regency.
All the victims, only some of whom have been identified, were
taken to the Medika Hospital in Cikarang, Bekasi.
"Of the 11 dead, five have been identified while of the 21
injured victims, four are in a critical condition," the
hospital's Dr. Kartika said.
Asmoro, a tollway official, said the accident occurred when a
bus belong to the Sahabat company that was plying the Jakarta-
Cirebon route hit the pick-up and then crossed the median strip
before colliding head-on with a bus from the Sumba Putra company,
which was traveling at high speed in the opposite direction.
He added the collision happened because the driver of the
Sahabat bus heading to Cirebon was driving recklessly.
Mohammad Amin was distraught over the death of his pregnant
wife Dedeh Nurjanah, who was killed in the pileup along with two
other relatives.
"I have no one anymore because my unborn child was killed in
the accident," Detik.com quoted Amin as saying at the hospital.
He recalled his happiness when their doctor told him three
months ago that Dedeh, whom he married eight years ago, was
pregnant.
"I tried to stop Dedeh from going to Surabaya, but Mrs. Musroh
persuaded her to go come along together with Retno," said Amin.
Dedeh, Musroh and the 11-year-old Retno, all of whom were
killed in the incident, were on board the ill-fated Sumba Putra
bus on their way home to Makassar subdistrict, East Jakarta.
Masroh child is now an orphan as the former's husband died two
months ago.