Eight BAKN staff die in freak train accident
JAKARTA (JP): Eight people died and dozens suffered severe injuries when an intercity train crashed into a government bus of the State Employees Administration Agency (BAKN) in Depok, some 20 kilometers south of Jakarta on Tuesday evening.
The accident, which took place at the first U-turn after the private Pancasila University campus in Depok, occurred because the on-duty official at the railroad crossing gate failed to bring down the gate despite the clanging of the bells, which signifies a train approaching, eyewitness Dwi told The Jakarta Post.
"The guard did not hear the clanging ... he was probably asleep or something. First, a Suzuki carry van crossed the tracks, then came a Kijang van. The bus followed the Kijang van and got stuck in the middle of the railroad tracks, since the Suzuki and the Kijang vans had to wait their turns to make the turning," said Dwi, 23, who owns the small Pak Sastro store across from the railroad tracks.
"The economy class train, which was heading from Bogor to Jakarta, just crashed into the bus. The bus turned over and fell on its side, with its wheels pointing toward the tracks and the front towards my store."
Five of the eight fatalities, Aman Suherman, Bagus Kusririanto, Sudaryanto, Sumiyati and Subardiati died at the state-run Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta.
Tulus Hartono, 60, Chaerul Anwar, 40, and Nasrudin, 46, died on their way to the Pasar Rebo Hospital in South Jakarta.
Three other passengers who were admitted to the same hospital, Widodo, 43, Ruspiti, 48, and bus driver Yasirin, 46, are in a stable condition and are being treated at the Cempaka ward on the fifth floor.
Two other passengers who are being treated at Fatmawati Hospital, Soleh Iskandar and Tuminah, did not have to undergo surgery and have been moved from the emergency room to the treatment unit.
The bus, with registration number B 7386 JQ, had been carrying 20 BAKN employees.
"I immediately ran to the scene and started to help people out of the crushed vehicle," Dwi said.
"It was terrible. I felt that those who were alive should have died. They were just covered with blood and had broken bones. Some people's jaws and backs were broken."
The bus was heading for Depok from the BAKN office in the Cawang area in East Jakarta. It had planned to drop two of its passengers in the Jagakarsa area in South Jakarta.
But the driver took a shortcut through the railway intersection at Gardu Lenteng Agung to avoid the routine traffic on Jl. Margonda Raya in Depok. (ylt/01)