Death toll in Depok train mishaps triples

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)