Budi, latest victim in Situbondo tragedy
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Budi, the conductor of the ill-fated bus AO Transport, finally died on Monday afternoon due to severe burns, bringing the number of victims in a grisly traffic accident recently in Situbondo to 55.
Separately, Minister of Transportation Agum Gumelar said human error was the cause of the accident in Situbondo.
Indro Suseno, the spokesman of the bus company, said that the Budi had been struggling to survive his injuries since Wednesday night, when the accident occurred in the area of Banyu Glugur in Situbondo, East Java.
He was treated at the Situbondo General Hospital, but two days later he was transferred to Dr. Soetomo Hospital in the East Java capital of Surabaya which has better facilities.
"But, Budi finally passed away at 4 p.m on Monday due to his severe burns," Indro told reporters in Yogyakarta.
Budi would be buried in his hometown in Ngawen subdistrict in Gunungkidul, Central Java, he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Transportation Agum Gumelar told reporters here that the accident was caused by recklessness on the part of the driver, particularly the driver of the trailer truck.
A preliminary investigation, held by the National Committee on Transportation Safety, showed that both truck and bus were in good condition, he said.
"It can then be easily concluded that the cause of the accident had to be the negligence of the driver," said Agum, after handed over a donation to the victims of the accident at Yapemda senior high school in Sleman, Yogyakarta.
The victims of the accident, the worst this year, were mostly school girls from Yapemda school. They were on the bus when a trailer truck reversed back into it on a steep slope in the Banyu Glugur area, and at the same time, the bus was rammed from behind by a minivan. The fuel tank of the truck burst into flames engulfing all three vehicles.
Iskandar Abubakar, the Director General for Land Transportation at the Ministry of Transportation, added that the neglect of safety standards by owners of public transportation companies, who failed to provide safety equipment in their buses, had contributed to the accident. "We hardly find emergency exits and hammers on public transportation vehicles," he said.
He said that traffic accidents must be reduced, as they claimed on average of 9,000 victims each year.
The lack of safety standards in public transportation vehicles has also been a cause for concern for East Java governor Imam Utomo.
"Following the Situbondo accident, the governor has already instructed all public bus operators in East Java to equip their buses with hammers and fire extinguishers," said Sutjahjono Sujitno, the deputy governor for the economy and development, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Meanwhile, up until Tuesday, the families of the victims had received donations from various parties totaling Rp 34 million (US$4,250) for each family.
The donations came from, among others, President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Vice President Hamzah Haz, the Speaker of People Consultative's Assembly, Amien Rais and other donors.
The Rp 34 million included compensation by state insurance company PT Jasa Rahardja, amounting to Rp 10 million.
Bambang CN, the father of Bambang Sapto, one of three male students killed in the accident, said that he already received approximately Rp 20 million.
"I haven't counted it in total. If I am not mistaken, I have already received Rp 20 million," he told The Jakarta Post.