Eleven killed in traffic accident

SURABAYA (JP): Eleven people were killed and at least 30 others injured after a cargo train, which had just left Pasar Turi station, hit a city bus at a nearby railway crossing at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

The deceased were rushed to the Dr. Soetomo General Hospital, Suara Pembaruan evening daily reported.

According to Antara, only three people were killed. Two of the three victims were identified as Jaman, 24, a resident of Pasuruan (East Java), and Muah, a Surabaya teenager. The other victim has yet to be identified.

Reports said that the bus driver, Sujito, was at large.

Eyewitnesses said that the Kalisari bus, plying the Jembatan Merah-Sidoarjo route, moved very slowly when entering the Jl. Demak crossing, just 300 meters away from the Pasar Turi railway station.

"The railway crossing attendant was about to pull down the bar at the crossing when the bus came. The bus, loaded with passengers, was so slow that it could not avoid the oncoming train," Aan Budi Santosa, a witness said to Antara

The bus body was thrown dozens of meters away, hitting some becaks (three-wheeled pedicabs) and a food stall, the witness said.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the East Java Jasa Raharja Insurance office, HM Iriani Aini, said that all the crash victims would get compensation. The relatives of the deceased will get Rp 5 million each, while those injured will get between Rp 2.5 million and Rp 5 million, Iriani said. (sur)