Bad driving sees Idul Fitri death toll reach 50
Bad driving sees Idul Fitri death toll reach 50
SEMARANG (JP): The Idul Fitri death toll from road accidents
has jumped again after nine people were killed in crashes in
Central Java and West Java Monday.
The fatalities come on top of 41 similar deaths in road
accidents Sunday and Monday.
The authorities, who released the news yesterday, blamed
driver negligence for the deaths.
In Demak, 25 kilometers northeast of here, a motorcyclist and
a local resident were killed in a road accident.
Demak police precinct chief Col. Muharso, said that the
accident occurred when a state-owned DAMRI bus overtook a car
without noticing an oncoming motorbike.
The bus, on its way from Demak to Kudus, skidded into the left
lane after smashing into the 23-year-old motorcyclist only to
fatally hit a 50-year-old man , who was cleaning garbage from his
front yard.
The reeling bus rolled on into a nearby irrigation channel
injuring 20 passengers, most of them residents of Demak. They
were admitted to the local city-owned hospital, but there were no
details of the injuries.
"This was an accident caused purely by a careless driver who
drove his bus too fast but could not control it," Muharso said.
The police detained bus driver, Suratno, for questioning. In
Indonesia, the crime carries a maximum penalty of fives years in
prison.
In another accident, Nursalim and his elder sister, Sofiatun,
were killed when they raced another motorcycle at Ungaran, 15
kilometers south of Semarang.
The spirited 16-year-old powered his Yamaha RX into top gear
in an unofficial race against another rider but an overtaking
maneuver cost Nursalim and his 27-year-old sister their lives as
they were hit by an oncoming bus.
In Cilacap, a family on its way home to Surabaya, East Java,
was involved in a road accident. Margono, 34, lost his 10-month-
old baby Maria Ulfah and his sister Maemunah when his van and a
truck collided on a section of Java's southern route at Tritih
Lor village.
Margono, his wife Sulistyawati, their children Angga and Lies,
Margono's other sister Halimah and her son Anas suffered slight
injuries.
A crash involving two buses in Wonogiri completed the
accident-ridden day in Central Java. The collision left Ragil,
32, dead and another 24 passengers injured.
Elsewhere in Serang, West Java, a van rolled over on the Serang
toll road after its rear left tire blew Monday afternoon, killing
an eight-month-old baby and a woman and injuring the remaining
seven passengers.
A patrol officer, Second Lt. Slamet Widodo, identified the
woman as Yunarwati, 21, but not the baby. The injured passengers
were Roli Romadina, 1, Nardi, 24, Maharson, 20, Eva, 22, Rizal,
29, Herman and van driver Rasmaidi Syair.
Slamet told Antara that the driver lost his control of the van
before it swerved into the wrong lane and overturned. However,
witnesses speculated that the driver's sleepiness had caused the
accident, saying that the car wobbled prior to the accident.
The seven casualties are being treated at Serang hospital and
Krakatau Steel hospital in Cilegon.
Banten police are investigating the case. (har/amd)