Bus accident victims face hard times

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

An accident involving a Sri Kertabumi-owned bus on Jl. Daan Mogot in Batu Ceper, Tangerang, last Thursday left five passengers dead and 34 others injured. For many of those injured in the crash live still has not returned to normal, and they have been left pondering an increasingly worrisome future.

"I should have returned to work last Friday, but I'm still lying in bed and I can't walk despite having spent Rp 500,000 for medical treatment," Mansari, 40, one of the victims who is still being treated at the Tangerang General Hospital, told The Jakarta Post last Saturday.

The father of four, who lives in Pejagalan subdistrict in North Jakarta and works as a taxi driver, was rushed to the hospital along with his wife, Haspiah, 35, and their 5-month-old son Andika after the Sri Kertabumi bus plunged into the Mookervart River last Thursday.

His wife and son received only minor injuries in the crash have already been released from the hospital.

But Mansari suffered serious injuries to both his legs, his face and his left hand. He is still confined to bed, where he is watched over by his eldest daughter, 18-year-old Masitoh.

Mansari, his wife and son boarded the bus at the Pakupatan terminal in Serang, Banten, where they had gone to visit his parents.

When the Post went to speak to Mansari in the hospital he was sleeping, with his daughter siting next to the bed fanning him.

When he woke up, Mansari said there was no indication that anything was wrong with the bus before the accident, and the driver was not speeding.

"Before we left I just heard one passenger warn the driver about the cracked windshield, and the driver looked unhappy to hear the warning," he said.

Mansari, who was sitting in the front row next to the the driver, said he was looking forward when the accident happened. The driver was passing a minivan on the left when the bus swerved, hit the bridge and plunged into the river, he said.

"Now I'm just worried about how to pay the hospital because I don't have any more money. I can't walk because both of my legs still hurt, so forget about working," he said.

Another victim, 52-year-old Adaruddin, a resident of Jl. Hutan Kota in Pluit Timur, North Jakarta, is being treated at the hospital along with his wife, Eti Sumirat, 40. Adaruddin was the passenger who warned the driver about the cracked windshield.

"From the time we left the Pakupatan bus terminal in Serang, the driver didn't drive at all careless. But when I asked him if the broken windshield was a danger to passengers, he seemed displeased and said there was nothing to be afraid of," said the father of four.

"There was nothing we could do to avoid the accident. And now we can't reopen our food stall until we both recover," Adarudin told the Post.

Meanwhile, two officials from the Tangerang branch of state- owned insurance company Jasaraharja came to the hospital last Saturday to collect data of all of the bus crash victims.

"We will provide up to Rp 5 million in compensation for those injured in the accident and Rp 10 million for those who died," Agus Suroso said.

He said the company would begin contacting families of victims on Monday and telling them to come pick up their compensation money at the company's Tangerang branch office.