Eight BAKN staff die in freak train accident
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)