City bus collision kills five on toll road

JAKARTA (JP): Five people, including an eight-year-old boy, were killed on Saturday morning when a city bus collided with the car they were traveling in on Jl. Wiyota Wiyona toll road near Jatinegara, East Jakarta.

East Jakarta Traffic Police chief Asst. Supt. Sugito said the five passengers -- including the boy's parents and uncle -- were heading north from Taman Mini to Utan Kayu to see a doctor about the boy's circumcision, which was due to be carried out a few hours later.

Their Toyota Corolla sedan was smashed into from behind by the bus.

The sedan was dragged by the bus, which was plying the Cikokol - Pulogadung route, some 70 meters away from where the accident occurred, the officer said.

"The sedan's gas tank then caught fire and the fire spread to both vehicles," Sugito said, while showing reporters both vehicles at the police compound.

The officer identified the victims as young boy Jamchoir; his parents Bambang Udjiyanto, 46, and Yani, 38; his uncle Wandono, 33; and a man named Trobus, 40, who had been hired by the family to take pictures of Jamchoir's circumcision day.

Forensic experts at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital and relatives of the victims confirmed their identities.

All of the 20 passengers on bus were reportedly uninjured. The unidentified driver managed to escape and is now being looked for by the police.

Officer Sugito quoted a road sweeper named Irwan, who witnessed the accident, as saying that Jamchoir was still alive after the accident but died later at the nearby UKI hospital in Cawang.

Like the other four victims, the boy suffered serious burn wounds all over his body.

Sugito said that his men had difficulty identifying the five victims since their bodies and the car were seriously burned.

Due to an invitation found in the car, the police were able to trace the house of the victims to the Taman Mini area, the officer said, adding that Jamchoir's father, Bambang, was a staffer at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII).

Wandono's pregnant wife Ani said the family had already prepared food and a stage for a dangdut band set to entertain guests attending Jamchoir's circumcision party, which was supposed to start at 11 a.m.

The accident took place at around 5:30 a.m.

"We had to stop the band and instead ask guests and relatives to perform a pray for the deceased," another relative said.

Jamchoir was the youngest child of four. (07)