Car hits students, kills two

Antara, Pekanbaru

A car drove into a group of 137 students marching along a street as part of their morning exercise on Tuesday in the Riau capital of Pekanbaru, leaving two dead and at least nine others injured.

The hit-and-run driver of the Daihatsu Taruna was arrested by police later in the day.

Students of Pekanbaru Agricultural Senior High School (SPMA) were marching in three rows on Jl. Kaharuddin Nasution toward downtown around 5:30 a.m., a routine morning exercise, when a speeding Taruna appeared from the opposite direction.

According to Heri Suprianto, a student who survived the accident, the car was zig-zagging down the street and drove into the students at the head of the group, then fled immediately.

Two students, Eko Sutiono and Annisa, were taken to Thabrani Rab Hospital, where they died a few hours later, said Wan Sumarni, a SPMA teacher.

The nine injured students were treated at Thabrani and two other hospitals, Pekanbaru Hospital and Ibnu Sina Hospital.

Local police moved swiftly after the accident to track down the driver of the car, and made an arrest on Tuesday afternoon in Lubuk Siam subdistrict, Kampar regency, some 50 kilometers west of Pekanbaru, said Pekanbaru Police traffic chief Comr. Octavianus.

The driver of the car was identified as Ujar, 28, a resident of Simalinyang, Kampar, and was nabbed along with his friend Abdul Gani, 35.

The two told police they were on their way home from Pangkalan Kerinci in Pelalawan regency, east of Pekanbaru, when Ujar hit the students.

"The suspect (Ujar) confessed that he was dozing off while driving," said Octavianus.