Four Air Force personnel killed in car accident

The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Four Air Force officers were killed and three others seriously injured early on Monday after their car collided with a bus in Tasikmalaya regency, West Java, police said.

The crash took place at around 3:30 a.m. on Jl. Raya Jamanis in the Rajapolah area as the victims were returning home after attending the wedding of a comrade in Yogyakarta.

The victims were traveling in a Mitsubishi L-300 minivan.

The four dead were identified as First Lt. Agus Budiono, Second Lt. Agus Budiman, Second Lt. Iwa Yudhistira and Second Lt. Taswin Feri Budhiana.

The three injured were First Lt. Santoniar, First Lt. Evian and Second Lt. Muryadi. They are being treated at a hospital in Tasikmalaya.

All seven victims were attached to the Husein Sastranegara air base.

Tasikmalaya Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Elan Subilan, quoting eye witnesses, said the official Air Force minivan was traveling at high speed along the middle of the road.

At the same time, a passenger bus serving the Bandung-Banjar route suddenly appeared from the opposite direction.

"The driver of the bus, operated by the Merdeka company, had tried to avoid a collision by swinging out into the left lane. But the crash was unavoidable," Elan added.

He said the police had detained the bus driver, identified only as Heri, 36, for questioning.

However, Elan said Heri would probably not be charged over the accident as he had done his best to avoid the collision.

Husein Sastranegara air base commander Col. Djamhari said his command had accepted that his four officers had died in an accident.

"For the time being, we are leaving it up to the police to probe the case and find those guilty," he said.

Djamhari said the bodies of the four soldiers had been returned to their respective hometowns for burial -- Taswin to Tasikmalaya, Agus Budiono to Surabaya, Agus Budiman to Nganjuk, and Iwa Yudhistira to Bandung.