KAI to sue truck driver for Rp 10 billion compensation
The Jakarta Post, Kebumen/Jakarta
State-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) said on Thursday that it would sue the driver of a box truck blamed for Monday's train derailment which killed six people and wounded 30 others near the Central Java town of Kebumen.
The company said it was considering demanding the driver, Ahmad Saefuddin, the truck's owner and the truck company pay Rp 10 billion in compensation for the damage caused by the crash.
Djusman Manurung, head of KAI's Region Operation V overseeing the Central Java regency of Purwokerto, said the figure included damage sustained to the tracks and carriages, and the refunding of tickets for train services canceled after the crash, he said.
"So, the compensation we are going to seek from the suspect is expected to reach that amount," Djusman said.
PT KAI president director Omar Berto confirmed its plan to sue Saefuddin who is currently being detained at Kebumen Police Headquarters.
"The driver's discipline offense that caused the accident cannot be ignored. Let alone causing the deaths of others," Omar said.
The police said Saefuddin, 32, would be charged with criminal recklessness causing the deaths of others. It carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Omar said the truck's owner and Saefuddin's company should also face charges. He did not elaborate.
Djusman said Saefuddin said he had borrowed the truck, license number B-9089-ZJ, from his younger brother-in-law, Yanto, to take Saefuddin's family members on a trip during the Idul Fitri holiday.
Kedu Police chief Sr. Comr. Bambang Tjahjono said Saefuddin was not under the influence of any alcoholic drink when he was driving the truck and hit the underpass.
"He was not drunk. He had been reminded by an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver that the truck was not able to pass through the underpass, but Saefuddin ignored it and instead drove the truck on at high speed to ultimately hit the underpass, dragging the tracks away," Bambang said.
He said the police were also detaining the wife of Saefuddin for security reasons. "We want to safeguard her safety from possible attack."
The Dwipangga express train, packed with around 450 people returning to Jakarta after celebrating Idul Fitri in their hometowns, derailed at Tersobo village in Prembun subdistrict, Kebumen. It was traveling from the Central Java city of Solo to the capital.
PT KAI said reports the train had derailed after hitting the truck stuck on the roof of the underpass beneath the tracks, were untrue.
KAI spokesman Zainal Abidin, in a statement, said the train derailed after hitting tracks bent 37 centimeters out of shape by the impact of the track.
Eight of the train's 11 carriages and its locomotive plowed into rice fields where they still remain, drawing hundreds of curious onlookers.