12 killed in Lembang bus crash

BANDUNG (JP): A speeding bus crashed into a pine tree at the foot of Tangkuban Perahu volcano in Lembang, West Java, on Sunday, killing 12 of its passengers.

The bus, carrying 31 students of the Mentuwariway Nurse Academy of Manado, North Sulawesi, and their colleagues from the Bandung-based Padjadjaran Nurse Academy, was on its way to Bandung from the hilly tourist resort, which is 60 kilometers away.

Medical staff at Hasan Sadikin State Hospital here identified the fatalities as Anak Agung P.S. Mandani, Roslani Anam, Yoas Dt. Amas, Yowin Muhammad, Meripa Lengkeng, Imelda T.M. Sutianan, Sediawati Atang, Rosmin Rayusam, Moh. Sangko, Jeanette and Jumelin, who were all visiting students. The other casualty was Tolibin, who was accompanying the guests during the tour.

The other students and the bus driver, Yudi, were injured.

Chief of Lembang Police, First Lt. Edi Santoso, told The Jakarta Post that the accident took place at about 1 p.m., just two kilometers away from the tourist resort.

The ill-fated bus was one of two vehicles taking the student group on the trip. It smashed into the tree on the left side of Jl. Raya Cikole-Lembang and rolled several times before landing upside down in a ditch.

West Java Police chief for traffic control Col. Anang Y.S. told the Post that he suspected the brakes of the bus had failed while it was going downhill, judging from the 50-meter-long skid marks on the winding road leading to the scene of the accident.

The visiting students, all in their early 20s, were slated to begin a one-month internship at the Hasan Sadikin Hospital starting on Monday.

The bodies will be flown back to Manado on Monday.(25/bby)