Five people die as two buses collide in Ngawi
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
At least five people were killed and nine others injured when a bus collided with a minibus in Ngawi regency, East Java province, police and residents said on Thursday.
The accident took place at around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Kedungprau village, Pedas district, some 180 kilometers from Surabaya.
The ill-fated bus, traveling from Surabaya to Surakarta in Central Java, smashed into the minibus with police number L-6542- A that was trying to overtake another car at high speed.
"At the time, the Eka passenger bus heading from Surakarta to Surabaya suddenly appeared from the opposite direction. The accident was then unavoidable," Ngawi police officer Adj. Insp. Rudianto said.
He said the travel service minibus was thrown to the opposite side of the road after it hit the front right part of the bus with police number W-6022-PU.
Five passengers of the minibus died at the scene, Rudianto said. The fatalities included Warsilo, Sutiyem and Sarlito -- all residents from Surakarta -- as well as Kuri from Yogyakarta, while another one has not been identified yet.
Local residents said they fled to the street shortly after they heard a loud voice calling out from the scene around midnight.
The villagers later discovered five bodies and evacuated them from the minibus, while giving help to the wounded victims.
The nine injured were passengers of both ill-fated cars. "All the dead and injured victims were taken to the Ngawi General Hospital," Rudianto added.
Hospital worker Sumitho said the death toll from the car crash were five and nine others injured, with some receiving intensive treatment for serious wounds.
Some families and relatives of the dead and the wounded victims arrived at the hospital on Thursday morning.
The Ngawi police were questioning the drivers of the two cars about the accident.
Car crashes are common in Indonesia, which have often been blamed on reckless drivers and passenger overloading.
On Sept. 5, at least 12 people (mostly women) were killed and six others injured when their pickup car was hit by a passenger train at a railway crossing in Kendal Rejo village, Blitar regency, East Java. Two of the fatalities were children.
In another accident, seven people died when their truck carrying cows plunged into a river under the Sidowayah bridge in Ngawi on Sept. 16.
In the East Java regency of Jember, a bus slammed into a train serving the Banyuwangi-Surabaya route earlier this year at a railway crossing in Garahan village, Silo district, claiming seven lives.