Dozens injured, two buses stoned in student brawl

Dozens injured, two buses stoned in student brawl

JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of people were injured and two buses
damaged yesterday in a brawl that involved hundreds of high
school students in Matraman, East Jakarta, police said.

The brawl broke out at about 12:30 p.m. and pitted students of
STM Negeri 6 against an "alliance" of STM Karya Guna and STM Budi
Murni. All are technical high schools based in East Jakarta.

An officer from East Jakarta Police precinct said six students
from STM Negeri 6 were briefly held for questioning while
hundreds of their rivals fled the scene before the police
arrived.

Eyewitnesses said the incident started when the alliance of
students stoned buses carrying students from STM Negeri 6. A
Mayasari Bhakti bus plying Senen-Bekasi and a PPD bus serving
Senen-Kampung Rambutan had their rear and side windows shattered.

Dozens of passengers were injured by flying stones and glass.
Among those injured was a housewife, who sustained a head wound
and was taken to the hospital, police said.

"My passengers were scared. I don't understand why security
officers did nothing to stop the brawl which happened near their
office," said the driver of one of the attacked buses.

Officers from the East Jakarta Police precinct arrived on the
scene at 1 p.m. and detained six STM Negeri 6 students who were
hiding in the two buses, Antara reported.

A 15 year old, one of the six students questioned by police,
said he did not know exactly what triggered the brawl but added
that it was the second fight yesterday.

He said that earlier in the morning, students of STM Negeri 6
were attacked by a gang of students armed with sharp weapons.

"Seven of my friends were injured and one was rushed to the
Ridwan Meuraksa Hospital (on Jl. Kramat Raya, Central Jakarta),"
the student said.

He said animosity between the three schools was deep seated.
Similar brawls had occurred in the past, he added.

In a separate incident, dozens of high students from local
schools brawled on Jl. Ciputat Raya, Pondok Pinang, South Jakarta
yesterday.

There was no word of injury in the incident but it caused a
heavy traffic jam on a busy street near Pondok Indah housing
complex.

The brawl started at 1 p.m. when a group of students threw
stones at another group of students who were waiting for a bus,
witnesses said.

The students escaped when police officers from Kebayoran Baru
Police subprecinct arrived at the scene. The officers caught five
but released them after brief questioning.

A police first lieutenant said no one was arrested.

"It's just a small incident. Student brawls occur almost every
day in the area," the officer, who asked for anonymity, said.

He said a bigger brawl erupted Tuesday, in which a bus had its
windows pelted with stones.

"The brawling students even dared to stone plainclothes
officers," he said. (pan/jun)