Four killed in mass exodus, two seriously injured

JAKARTA (JP): This year's smooth Idul Fitri exodus ended yesterday when four people were killed and another two seriously injured in three different incidents near Cirebon, West Java, early yesterday.

At Merak port, the main harbor on the western tip of Java, 50 passengers, most of them women, fainted after struggling for hours for seats on ferries to cross the Sunda Strait to Sumatra.

Antara identified those killed as Sonda, 25, of Buyut village in north Cirebon, motorcyclist Didi Sumardi, 30, of Kuningan, West Java, and a bus passenger Tarjono, 16, of Pilang Agung in Cirebon. All of them died in street accidents. An unidentified motorcyclist also died after a crash in Jagapura in Cirebon.

Bus driver Wirjo, 25, of Tegal, Central Java and his 40-year- old conductor Sumarno broke their legs in another accident. Doctors at Arjawinangun hospital in Cirebon are considering amputating the crushed limbs.

The authorities said that 25 million people throughout the country were expected to make an Idul Fitri trip. The busiest days are expected to be Thursday and today.

Sudarmaji, an intensive care unit worker at Arjawinangun hospital, said that Sonda was struck by a car while walking along a sidewalk near his home at around 5:30 a.m. and Didi fell off his motorbike, but Sudarmaji failed to go into details.

Tarjono was the only victim of an illness. "He looked pale before leaving Pulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta," Sudarmaji quoted witnesses as saying.

Warjo was driving a state-owned PPD bus which collided head-on with a car at Kertasmaya in Cirebon.

In Merak, the director of the state-owned river and lake transportation company PT ASDP, Sjahwin Hamid, told Antara that the people who fainted were tired and had lacked oxygen while lining up to buy tickets.

A member of the company's operational staff, Aris Munandar, said the traffic leading to Merak had been much less congested than during the same period last year.

In the last few days 65,835 people and 4,380 vehicles used the Cilegon-Merak toll road.

Radio programs

Radio and television stations in the capital offered their perspectives on the ritual treks across Java and Sumatra by people braving the elements and dangers of cramped vehicles.

The population of rural Java, home to 60 percent of Indonesia's 200 million people, will be swollen by five million Jakartans heading home, according to Bachtiar, news manager at ANTeve television station.

Bachtiar told The Jakarta Post that his team of 50 reporters had observed the traffic flow in seven areas, including a one- hour aerial view, since Monday and planned to continue coverage of returning holidaymakers until next weekend.

He reported seven-kilometer tailbacks in Rancaengke, West Java, and that a crash involving bus heading for Semarang in Alas Roban, Central Java Monday, had prompted a considerable response from viewers.

"Overall, we have had favorable responses from viewers for providing them with the latest traffic information and plan to continue coverage of the returns thanks to our own satellite news gathering system in cooperation with the same system run by Telkom," Bachtiar said.

Pulogadung bus terminal, said to be the busiest in the country, continued to be thronged with homegoers as were the toll roads leading to Sumatra; Nagrek, West Java; Palimanan in Cirebon and Central Java, he said.

Ferries leaving Merak, West Java for Lampung, Sumatra, were the most crowded among the maritime transportation, taking as many as 400,000 passengers daily.

Jon Heri of state-owned TVRI's news department, told the Post that this year the number of homegoers had increased by 15 percent.

Heri said 14 additional terminals had been established in Jakarta to cater for the massive crowds.

They ranged from the large, permanent Pulogadung and Kampung Rambutan bus terminals to the smaller Lebak Bulus and east Senayan parking lot in South Jakarta, Rawamangun in the east and Kalideres in the north, he said.

He reported Senen train station as the busiest because it served the middle to lower classes, followed closely by Gambir in the center of the city. He said Kota train station was less congested because it served the greater Jakarta area and one route to Surabaya.

Train passengers, true to Javanese custom, make do with any available seating while air passengers tended to book early, Heri said. The majority of flights leaving Jakarta were full.

Assistant promotions manager Arni Ardas at Female radio station said that her listeners had benefited from afternoon traffic reports particularly on the route from Jakarta to Cianjur.

They often left the city later than other people, Arni said. Other radio and television stations were unavailable for comment. (01/amd)