Crash victims' families anxious for news

Crash victims' families anxious for news

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Carrying her three-month-old grandson, the tired-looking ibu
Lena, 52, walked into the information office of the Senen railway
station, Central Jakarta to seek information about her 26-year-
old son, Deni, and his wife.

Deni, along with his wife who is five-months pregnant, was
aboard the Gaya Baru Malam train, which collided with the Empu
Jaya train near Brebes, Central Java, on Tuesday morning.

Making her way through the crowd in the office, Lena managed
to reach the desk and asked the officer to hand her the latest
victim list.

She said her son called her from the Pasar Turi station,
Surabaya, East Java, saying they were about to board the Gaya
Baru Malam, which was scheduled to arrive at Senen station on
Tuesday morning.

She added that her son had gone to Surabaya, his wife's
hometown, for the Idul Fitri celebrations. However, up until
Wednesday afternoon there was still no news from her son and his
wife.

Ibu Lena, who lives in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, had been
waiting at the station since Tuesday afternoon looking at every
sheet of the latest list of train victims, her heart racing,
praying that her son and daughter-in-law were not on the list.

Mushrod, 37, was equally worried. The 37-year-old man read the
victim list that was updated every two hours, to check if his son
Chandra Putra Perdana was on the list.

His son, a second year junior high school student, took the
Empu Jaya heading to Yogyakarta. Chandra, who attended school in
Yogyakarta, came to Jakarta to spend his school holidays with his
parents.

Mushrod was in great distress as he remembered leading
Chandra, who traveled alone, to board the second compartment of
the train. As reported, the second compartment was one of the
most damaged compartments, in which many victims died instantly.

Mushrod, who stayed awake all night at the station,
accompanied by his brother, decided to board the 12:40 p.m. train
to Brebes to check the unidentified victims.

"My son doesn't have an ID card yet, and I don't know whether
he brought along his student card. I am concerned about the 10
unidentified victims, I hope he is not on the list," he told The
Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

According to Sugeng, an officer at the Senen station, hundreds
of people have come to his office to examine the victim list.
Many of them left the office in hysteria when they discovered
that their family member was on the list.

Up until Wednesday afternoon, the office was still flooded
with people seeking news about their family members.

Sugeng said that the station provided free transportation to
Brebes for people looking for their family members on board the
ill fated trains.

Based on the victim list issued by Senen station, as of
Wednesday afternoon, 34 fatalities have been reported, 10 of
which were unidentified. According to state railway company PT
Kereta Api Indonesia, however, the accident killed 30 people.

One of the trains in the collision departed from Senen
station, the other departed from Surabaya heading for Senen
station.