Death toll in Depok train mishaps triples

JAKARTA (JP): The number of victims, mostly students, fatally crushed by passing trains in Depok tripled this year to 22 from only eight people in 1993, according to a police officer.

"It's high time everybody, the public and officers of the state-owned railway company Perumka, focus on ways of how to reduce the high death toll," Depok police chief Lt. Col. Sisno Adiwinoto told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Perumka officers could not be reached as of yesterday evening for comment on the alarming figure.

According to Sisno, most of the victims were fatally crushed after falling from speeding trains.

"Their bodies were found later by local residents, who immediately reported the cases to the nearby police office," he said.

The rising death toll of people crushed by the moving trains in Depok is caused mainly by the bad attitude on the part of the passengers themselves, and by Perumka's inadequacy to secure the safety of their passengers.

Students in uniform stand on carriage roofs, while others purposely stand or put their feet between the electric doors of the crowded trains.

Sisno acknowledged that it is not an easy job to reduce the high death toll. "However Perumka's determination to continuously warn passengers about the danger of clowning on trains is needed to help solve the problem," he added.

He also urged the public to be more aware of how to behave on trains for the sake of their own safety.

Sisno strongly believes there are a great number of unreported cases involving light or serious wounds.(bsr)