31 killed after bus pitches into a ravine in South Sumatra
31 killed after bus pitches into a ravine in South Sumatra
PALEMBANG, South Sumatra (JP): At least 31 people were killed
and five others seriously injured when their intercity bus plying
the Bandarlampung-Bengkulu route plunged into a ravine in Lahat,
South Sumatra, on Tuesday.
According to the police investigation, 28 of those killed were
passengers on the bus, and the other three fatalities were
members of the bus crew. These last three were identified as
driver Wagimin, 42; codriver Edi, 26; and Ros, 25, the driver's
assistant.
Police are speculating that the brakes on the bus, called
Marlin and with police number BG 3697 LA, failed as the vehicle
was traveling downhill on the winding road.
"The driver might have lost control of the bus. The bus dove
into the ravine without hitting the concrete protecting fence
along the road," Col. Momon Rusmana, the head of the South
Sumatra Traffic Police, said.
The bus plunged into the 200-meter deep ravine and came to
rest in a large tree, some 10 meters above Lematang River.
There is some speculation some of the passengers were thrown
from the bus as it plunged down the ravine.
A reporter based in Palembang said there were no eyewitnesses
to the fatal accident, but a number of road construction workers
who were sleeping in tents near the accident site said they heard
a crash and muffled sounds in the ravine at 1 a.m.
They said they ignored the noise and went back to sleep.
Police said they were notified of the accident two hours
later. They said it was difficult to mount any type of rescue
operation in the dark, adding that the area was "unfriendly".
Locals said the road near the village of Mingkik, Dempo
Selatan district, where the accident took place, was "terrible".
The five-meter wide, two-way road winds its way between hills
and ravines, and there are no streetlights along this stretch of
road.
Rescuers, consisting of policemen and local residents, found
it difficult to remove the bodies from the bus because of the
difficult terrain.
Erna, 30, one of the survivors, who is now being treated at
the hospital in Lahat, said she was asleep when the accident
occurred. "I don't know anything about the accident, except for
the fact that I spent almost two days down in the river," she
said. She was traveling with her husband, Ali Imron, and his
younger brother Apri, 28, from their home in Bengkulu to
celebrate the Islamic Day of Sacrifice, which fell on Thursday.
Her husband was killed in the accident, while her brother-in-
law Apri was seriously injured.
Lahat Police chief Lt. Col. Eko said on Thursday the bodies of
four of the victims had been claimed by their relatives, while
the others were being kept at the hospital in Lahat, which is
located some 25 kilometers from the accident site.
"We will have to bury the decaying bodies tomorrow (Friday),"
he said on Thursday. (sur)