53 injured in West Java express train accident
53 injured in West Java express train accident
PURWAKARTA, West Java (JP): Seven people were seriously hurt
and 46 others suffered minor injuries when a Jakarta-Bandung
express train collided head-on with a waiting train near the
small Sadang railway station yesterday morning.
It is not yet known what caused the accident.
Eyewitnesses and local officials of state-owned Perumka
railway company said the collision between the two Parahyangan
trains took place at 9:37 a.m about 100 meters from the station
which is 97 kms east of Jakarta.
The drivers of the two locomotives were unharmed as they were
able to jump before the impact.
Both locomotives and three cars from the moving train were
badly damaged in the crash. Rail traffic between Jakarta and
Bandung was halted for about six hours. Sixteen trains usually
travel in each direction daily.
The Bandung-bound train, which had left Jakarta's Gambir
station at 6:30 a.m., was carrying 357 passengers while the
waiting train going in the opposite direction had 250 passengers
on board. It had left Bandung at 6 a.m.
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto, who arrived at
the scene by helicopter a few minutes later, told reporters that
the driver of the train traveling from Jakarta apparently failed
to obey a signal to reduce speed.
Based on a preliminary investigation into the accident,
Haryanto said the Bandung-bound train was moving at 20 km/h when
it hit the other Parahyangan train, waiting on a brief section of
double track for the Bandung-bound train to pass.
The minister, however, said that the official cause of the
accident was still being investigated jointly by Perumka
officials and local detectives.
"In the meantime, we don't know yet whose fault this is," said
Haryanto.
As of yesterday evening, the Karawang Police precinct was
still questioning at least three people; Hadiyan, the driver of
the Jakarta-Bandung train; Suritno the driver of the waiting
train and Sadang station manager Hepjon Sihombing.
While the injured people were treated at the nearby Bayu Asih
hospital in Purwakarta, the unharmed passengers were driven by
air-conditioned buses hired by Perumka to their respective
destinations.
The seriously wounded people included two passengers who were
sitting in the locomotive of the Bandung-bound train.
The two suffered major injuries to their heads, chests and
legs.
They were identified as Ida, 42, of Jl. Taman Manisan, Cawang
in East Jakarta and Parikesit, 38, of Jl. Cipinang Pulo also in
East Jakarta.
Haryanto called them illegal passengers because no passengers
are meant to sit in locomotives.
But Parikesit denied he boarded the train illegally, saying he
bought a ticket.
"I was asked by a train official to sit in the locomotive
since the train was full," the employee of state-owned
telecommunications company PT Telkom said.
Ida was unavailable for comment yesterday because she was
still recovering from surgery. She is a relative of a Perumka
employee.
A similar train collision occurred less than two kilometers
from the scene of yesterday's crash on July 19, 1996. Then two
trains collided at dawn 100 meters from Purwakarta railway
station. Five railway workers riding in one of the locomotives
were killed in that accident. (jun/bsr)