Bus accident kills 4 people, injures 5 others

JAKARTA (JP): At least four people were killed and five others injured when a speeding, overloaded minibus hit a shelter at a bus stop in Tanjung Duren district, West Jakarta, yesterday morning.

Among the injured commuters was a Navy officer, who was waiting at the bus stop on Jl. S. Parman.

The Kopaja 86 minibus, plying the Lebak Bulus (South Jakarta) - Kota (West Jakarta) route, overturned after colliding with the shelter.

The driver, who was caught by bank security guards while trying to run from the scene, later claimed that the minibus' brakes were malfunctioning.

A witness, Syahbudi, said that the minibus was packed with passengers and traveling at high speed when it approached the slow lane alongside the bus stop.

"First, it struck a man crossing the street before it crashed into the shelter and wiped out the people standing there," Syahbudi, who was on a public bus behind the Kopaja, said.

The driver managed to flee from the angry crowd but his conductor was captured.

Alert security guards from nearby Dewa Ruci Bank, grabbed the driver, later identified as Endang Furqon, 36, after he managed to tear off his driver's uniform and leap across a ditch in front of the private bank.

During preliminary questioning by local traffic police, Endang blamed the vehicle's malfunctioning brakes and said that he was only driving about 40 kilometers per hour.

"I didn't know that the brakes didn't work properly.

"I panicked after I hit the first victim. But I became more afraid when I realized that I had hit some other people.

"That's why I decided to escape instead of being beaten by the angry mob."

But Endang, who became a driver two weeks ago after working for years as a conductor, promised to take responsibility for the accident.

The four casualties were sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta for a postmortem examination, while the five injured victims were admitted to nearby Sumber Waras General Hospital.

Three of the four casualties died on the spot while the fourth, identified as Bambang Edi, an employee of Mal Taman Anggrek shopping center, died a few hours later.

The first three victims were identified as Sudarji, 37, of Kemandoran, Kebayoran Lama, in South Jakarta; Zaenudin, 29, of Gg. Gebang, Tanjung Duren in Grogol; and Almer, 42, of Jl. Kramat Batu, Gandaria in South Jakarta.

A source at Sumber Waras General Hospital said the injured victims were identified as Navy First Lt. Sunarto, Ismiyanto, Rinaldo Asri, Djaya and Iin Marlina.

"Most of them suffered severe chest, head and abdominal wounds," she said. (04)