Haze blamed for five deaths in horror crash
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
An early morning collision involving a bus and a people carrier, which claimed the lives of five people, occurred in thick haze caused by forest fires in central Malaysia and Riau.
Rajamin Sirait, the director of operations for PMH bus company, which serves the Jakarta-to-Medan route, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that their bus driver, Silalahi, said that when the collision occurred last Sunday, visibility in the area was down to just 40 meters.
Head of Medan Geophysics and Meteorology Office Firman confirmed that the haze in the area was at its worst when the accident occurred. "Morning visibility was between just 20 meters and 30 meters," he said.
According to Firman, the thick haze was due to raging fires in the central part of neighboring Malaysia and in Riau province.
"There are 21 separate fires in Malaysia and one in Riau. The haze from these fires had spread to the Malacca Straits, Asahan and Labuhan Batu in Northeast Sumatra," he said, adding that the area had been covered by haze for the last few weeks.
However, only Labuhan Batu and Asahan were still shrouded in gloom. Haze in the other places, including Medan, had cleared.
In Medan, which saw the number of flights to and from the city canceled last week, visibility is now up to 8,000 meters.
The driver of the bus, who sustained light injuries from the accident, said that because of reduced visibility, he was only able to drive slowly.
But when the bus, which was traveling from Jakarta to Medan, reached the village of Aek Pamingke at around 3 a.m., the driver said he could not see the Mitsubishi L-300 people carrier coming from the opposite direction.
"I didn't see it coming. The collision happened so fast," Rajamin quoted Silalahi as saying.
Five members of the same family died instantly, namely Rasiyati, 45; Melda, 15; Lela, 20; Lina, 30; and the driver of the people carrier, Junaidi, 38.
Only one passenger of the people carrier survived, an 18-month-old baby girl. Seven others were still in a critical condition in state-run Pirngadi General Hospital in Medan. They are Arif, 9, Herman 35, Ari Sumanto, 32, M. Aulia Rahmat, 15, and M. Yunus, 53 -- who are all residents of Kelambir V Gang Waru, Deli Serdang -- and Hamdani, 32, and Hisyam, 52, residents of Banda Aceh and Binjai, North Sumatra.
They were traveling to Pekanbaru after attending a family gathering in Deli Serdang. There were no casualties traveling on the PMH bus.