Miscommunication caused train collision: Police

TANGERANG (JP): Local police came to the conclusion on Tuesday that a train collision in which four people lost their lives on the previous day was caused by miscommunication between a dispatcher at Serpong Railway Station and the driver of the train heading its way from another station.

"When the dispatcher at Serpong Station (in the west) tried to contact the driver of the Langsam train traveling from Jakarta toward Serpong (from Sudimara Station in the east) and received no response, he then decided to let the other train move ahead," Tangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto said at his office on Tuesday.

A few minutes after the train from Serpong was permitted to leave, Pudji said, other officials at Serpong Station contacted their colleagues in Sudimara, who then informed them that the Langsam train had just left Sudimara Station.

The two stations are six kilometers apart.

"Knowing the two trains were heading toward each other on a single railway track, officials from both stations hastily contacted drivers of both trains to advise them to reduce speed.

"But one of the drivers ignored the advise, which resulted in the fatal crash," Pudji explained.

The two trains, which both served the Jakarta-Merak-Jakarta route, collided head-on on the single track at 9:15 a.m. on Monday at Bumi Serpong Damai housing complex, killing four passengers and injuring 37 others.

Both trains had at least seven compartments each. While the train from Jakarta was nearly empty, the one from Merak was crowded.

Officer Pudji did not explain the status or the whereabouts of the driver of either train.

He said the preliminary police conclusion was based on the questioning of three officials of state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI).

He identified the three men as the dispatcher at Serpong Station, Dedy Supriadi, 34, the dispatcher at Sudimara Station, Sajono, and head of Serpong Station, Iyus Wahyudin.

Meanwhile, all of the dead bodies in the accident had been claimed by relatives by Tuesday.

On Monday evening, hundreds of local Muslims at Mekarjaya village in Serpong held a prayer at the site of the accident, hoping that all the dead people would rest in peace and that such an accident would not happen again.

"This prayer will take place for three consecutive days," said village head Abdul Rohim.

At PT KAI headquarters in Bandung, West Java, company official Kliwon Suyoto said on Monday that a superstitious tale was circulating around the premises.

A few branches of a 100-year-old banyan tree in front of the office -- which was a hotel in the Dutch colonial era -- had been chopped off by a gardener four days ago.

Apparently an old man named Sidiq warned officials about cutting the tree.

"Don't cut the tree ... or else we will have many more train accidents," Sidiq said a few days ago.

"Well, I don't know if the story is true, but it gives me a chill," Kliwon said. (41/25/bsr)