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.