Bus driver named suspect
Bus driver named suspect
Multa Firdaus, The Jakarta Post, Serang
Ali Muhammad, the driver of a Hiba Utama bus that collided with a
cargo train killing at least 20 people in Serang, Banten on
Sunday, has been arrested while locomotive engineer Jumari is
still under police investigation.
The chief of the Serang Police Precinct, Adj. Sr. Comr. Jati
Wiyono said Ali was arrested because he allegedly did not stop
his bus when he heard the train.
"Several eyewitnesses at the accident site testified
that other cars behind the bus stopped as the drivers
heard the train blow its horn, but the bus ignored the
horn and drove across the train tracks," he said when
accompanying West Java Provincial Police Chief Insp. Gen.
Sudirman Ail to visit injured victims in Serang General Hospital
on Monday.
At least 20 passengers of the chartered bus were killed while
24 others were seriously injured in the accident. The victims,
all from Jakarta, were on their way to visit the Grand Mosque and
other religious sites in Banten.
State-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia's
Operations Director W. Muktamar, who was questioned at Serang
railway station by a team of the House of Representatives'
Commission VI led by the Commission chairman Soemaryoto, said
that the bus driver was at fault because there were enough
warning signs installed at the crossing and the locomotive
engineer had sounded a warning.
"And this matches with the testimony of Siti Rojainah who was
driving her car behind the bus," he said.
Sixteen passengers were killed instantly.
Serang General Hospital deputy director Suleman told
The Jakarta Post that there were a total of 44 injured victims
brought to the hospital and so far, four had died.
Eight who suffered light injuries were released from hospital
while 12 others suffering serious injuries have been sent to
several hospitals in Jakarta.
Last month, in the same province, six people were killed and
many others injured in a head-on collision between a passenger
train and a cargo train.