32 die in bus-truck collision

JAKARTA (JP): At least 32 people were killed and 29 others injured when an intercity bus collided head on with a dump truck on the Cakung-Cikunir toll road, East Jakarta, yesterday, hospital and police sources said yesterday.

Most of the dead were believed to be passengers on board the Semarang-registered Jaya Bakti Super bus which was traveling from Jakarta to Purwodadi in Central Java.

The crash occurred at KM17 around 7 p.m., witnesses said.

Both the bus and the dump truck were totally wrecked. A tanker truck was also hit in the crash but suffered only minor dents.

There were no details of how the collision occurred. The tanker truck and the bus were heading out of Jakarta, and the dump truck was heading into the capital.

Thirty-one people died on impact and their bodies were taken to the morgue at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, Central Jakarta. A morgue official said most of the victims came from Grobogan, Jepara and Tegal, all in Central Java.

Another person died at the UKI hospital in Central Jakarta later in the evening.

Nearby residents were quick on the scene to help remove the victims before police arrived.

An eyewitness said the driver of the dump truck and his passenger had to be removed with the help of a crane. Both were badly injured.

The toll road was closed for more than two hours. It was opened after workers removed the dump truck, which had been blocking both lanes of the road, the witness said. (mds/jun/emb)