Eight people killed in train-minivan collision

JAKARTA (JP): At least eight people were killed yesterday evening when a speeding train hit a public minivan in the Bintaro Permai area in South Jakarta after the minivan's driver reportedly refused to obey a warning from the railway crossing attendant.

All of the fatalities were minivan passengers.

Three other passengers, including driver Sulaiman, were badly injured in the accident which took place at JAM BERAPA?.

Officers at the Kebayoran Lama police subprecinct said they were still in the dark about the whereabouts of Sulaiman as of last night.

"Witnesses said that he was admitted to Fatmawati Hospital. But we found nobody under his name at that hospital. We're still looking for him," an officer told The Jakarta Post at the site.

Six of the eight people killed have been identified.

They were junior high school student Salomo Pangihutan Hutagalung, 13, primary school student Ramanullah, 12, and four others whose identification was limited to the names Guntur Sirait, Sri Winarni, Talhuda and Om Ronah.

The bodies of a man and woman have yet to be identified.

One of the victims had half of his body badly crushed by the train.

The bodies were taken to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital. The families of Salomo and Ramanullah collected their bodies last night.

According to railway crossing attendant Mamat, who has been assigned at the area since 1993, the driver of the white minivan route number D 18 plying Ciledug - Ciputat blatantly ignored his warning about the oncoming train traveling from Serang, West Java, to Kebayoran.

"When I blew my whistle and asked him to move quickly, he just looked at me but refused to move his car," Mamat, 59, told the Post.

"The train was just about 300 meters away and he still let half of his car's body cover the track."

The railway crossing, like many in the area, has no gate and the attendant only has a whistle, instead of a siren, to alert motorists and passersby.

Many Bintaro railway crossing have been the site of fatal accidents.

In October 1987, more than 100 passengers were killed and 300 others injured when two commuter trains collided head-on in the Bintaro area.

"We hope today's accident will open the minds of the local authorities to equip the railway crossing with proper devices," said local resident Marina Warokah yesterday. (ind/bsr/ivy)