Dead driver among 3 suspects in deadly toll road pileup

Evi Mariani and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Police named on Thursday three drivers, including one who died, as suspects in an accident that claimed six lives and injured 10 others on Jagorawi toll road on Wednesday, soon after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed police to punish whoever was responsible.

Based on observation of the crash scene and statements of witnesses, the police concluded that the three drivers hit the ill-fated chartered public minivan packed with eight adults and five children who were going on a family outing to Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta from Bogor, West Java.

"The suspects are the driver of a Kijang minivan, identified as Wongso, the driver of a pickup truck who was killed in the crash, Hidayat, and Iwan Warga Sasmita, the driver of PO Garuda bus," the police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said.

Should the case go to trial, a suspect may face a maximum of five years in prison for negligence leading to the death of others, as stipulated in the Criminal Code.

The investigation on Thursday revealed that the pileup took place when the highway patrol halted the traffic to allow the President and his entourage to pass the toll road on the way from his private residence in Cikeas, Bogor, to the State Palace.

Previously, the police accused the bus driver of ignoring an instruction to stop at Km 13 near Cibubur, East Jakarta, and hitting a stationary car in front, causing a pileup involving at least seven cars.

The accident prompted the presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng to hold a press conference on Wednesday and the President himself spoke on Thursday to avert a negative reaction from the public.

The police are under fire because the accident raised speculation that they halted the traffic too abruptly, not leaving enough time for drivers to brake.

"We did our job, we cleared the highway accordingly to standard procedures," Tjiptono said.

Head of Jakarta Traffic Police Sr. Comr. Djoko Susilo claimed that his officers had ordered passing vehicles to stop three kilometers, or at least 10 minutes, before the entourage passed.

In a press conference held late on Wednesday, head of the traffic division of the National Police Brig. Gen. Utjin Sudiana claimed that a patrol vehicle had alerted motorists to move aside by zig-zagging along the road, three kilometers before the stopping site.

However, he acknowledged that no police officers were standing by on the roadside to alert motorists so they could slow down before reaching the site.

Before leaving for Chile to attend the APEC Summit on Thursday, Susilo personally paid his condolences to the families of the six people who died in the crash including two children.

"As a part of my moral responsibility, I have asked the related ministries to provide financial support for the victims as well as the deceased," the President said.