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)