Double-decker goes up in flames on Jl. Sudirman

JAKARTA (JP): A double-decker bus serving the Pulogadung-Blok M route with some 40 passengers on board caught fire in front of the Indocement building on the city's major thoroughfare of Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta on Friday morning.

No fatalities were reported as all the passengers, the driver and conductor managed to escape the blaze, which occurred after black smoke began to emerge from the rear of the vehicle.

Like many other similar cases, there was no information from the city police about the fire on the bus, operated by city-owned public bus firm PPD.

The bus driver, who only revealed his family name, Sihotang, said he was driving toward Blok M in the south and was about to pick up some passengers at a bus stop in front of the Indocement building when several pedestrians shouted that the bus was on fire.

"The bus was coming to a halt when the people shouted 'Fire! Fire!'," Sihotang told The Jakarta Post.

The conductor, also giving only his surname, Sinambela, recalled that he firstly tried to calm the passengers.

"I said 'calm down, it's only smoke'," he said.

Sinambela added that it was some passersby who noticed that the fire at the back of the bus and yelled "Get off the bus! Fire!".

The emergency yell alerted the passengers, who panicked and raced to exit the vehicle.

Sihotang said units from the fire brigade arrived shortly before the bus was completely incinerated by the fire.

Head of pool G of PPD, in charge of the bus, Suratman said he had no idea about the loss suffered by the company.

"All I know is that this was an old bus, which first served passengers back in 1983," Suratman said at the scene, adding that due to its age, the bus should not have been operating.

PPD and many privately owned city buses in the capital are known for their use of aging buses, which are in poor condition, and their shoddy service. Like the dated vehicles, their drivers have often been called treacherous and some of the world's worst.

Head of City Traffic and Land Transportation Agency Buyung Atang said earlier that PPD was in such poor condition that only about 600 of its 2,000 buses in operation currently served 58 routes in the city.

In February, the company reportedly acquired some Rp 49.6 billion (US$5.9 million) in loans to cover operating costs. (jaw)