Man dies after jeep hit at train crossing

JAKARTA (JP): A man died instantly on Saturday when his jeep was hit by a train at Rawa Buaya in Klingkit village in West Jakarta.

"The crash happened because of an unattended railway crossing gate which led the victim, Han On Tjiang, 53, to drive his Feroza jeep onto the railway track," a Cengkareng Police detective.

The detective, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the jeep, with registration number B 2026 BR, was dragged by cars from train No. 630 which was passing along Rawa Buaya.

"It took nearby residents one hour to get the body of the dead victim out of the crushed jeep.

"Han was a resident of Badilah lane in Tangki subdistrict of Taman Sari, West Jakarta. He was passing the railway track when the train came from the east side."

It was the second fatal train accident in the past month.

A train travelling on the Jakarta-Merak line collided head-on with another train on May 1, killing four passengers and injuring 37 others.

The collision of the two diesel-powered trains, Langsam and Patas Merak, occurred at 9:15 a.m. on a single line track at the Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) housing complex, between Sudimara and Serpong stations.

Becak (pedicab) driver Sumarno, 35, was decapitated when he was caught between the train sections.

Officials from state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) said the accident was still under police investigation.

Other officials, including Director General of Land Transportation Santo Budiono and spokesman for KAI's greater Jakarta area Zainal Abidin, concluded the collision was mainly caused by system failure instead of human error.

Other sources have hinted sabotage may have caused the crash. (ylt)