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.