Five killed in bus-train collision in Central Java

Kartika Bagus C., The Jakarta Post, Surakarta

At least five people were killed and 10 others injured in a collision between a passenger bus and a Jakarta-Malang train in the Central Java town of Karanganyar early on Saturday.

All the victims, mostly bus passengers, were taken to hospitals in Surakarta while the bus and the derailed cars have been removed from the accident site.

Two dead victims were identified as Tusiran, 40, of the East Java town of Pacitan, and Wongso Sukarto of Karanganyar. The three others have yet to be identified. The injured victims, five of whom are in a critical condition, are being treated at Moewardi General Hospital and Dr. Oen Hospital in Surakarta.

According to data at the local police station, four of the critically injured are bus driver Sutarno, Tri Sunarto, Achmad Basuri, Sumiyem and Pariyem, all of Karanganyar.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Alexius Subiandono, chief of the Karanganyar Police station, said the 3:50 a.m. collision was caused by human error.

"The accident was unavoidable because, according to eyewitnesses, the train crossing gate was not closed when the Matarmaja economic train, which was running at high speed, hit the passing bus carrying 12 passengers from Solo (Surakarta) to Purwodadi in Grobogan regency," he said, citing Supriyanto who was on duty at the train crossing in Palur village. He was apparently asleep when the train passed and has been detained for further investigation.

According to an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver who was present at the scene, the bus conductor hit the back of the bus to warn the driver to stop, but he was unable to attract the driver's attention.

"The bus was dragged 200 meters and three passengers died instantly, while two others died on the way to the hospital," said Subiandono.

He added that the train engineer and several of his staff were still at the police office pending further questioning.

Second Pvt. Rachmat of the Jakarta Military Command, one of 42 servicemen on the train from Jakarta, said everything happened so suddenly that there was no time to avoid the accident.

"The train stopped in minutes after hitting the bus and we found three passengers dead inside the badly damaged bus. Train passengers got out and helped take victims out of the bus to take them to nearby hospitals," he said.

Adj. Comr. Suharyanto, chief of the detectives at the police station, confirmed that the accident was caused by human error and that no defects in the crossing gate equipment had been found.

"The accident happened because the gate at the crossing was not closed when the train passed through," he said.

The incident is the worst in four months after major collisions in the Banten town of Lebak and the West Java of Cirebon in January, in which more than 60 people were killed.