Bus accident victims face hard times
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.