Mob burns buses in N. Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): A mob set alight two Metromini buses after one of them fatally hit two pedestrians and seriously injured another on Jl. Sunter, North Jakarta, on Sunday, police said yesterday.

The two dead were identified as M. Jainuri, 33, and Sri Sugiarti, 35, both residents of Jl. Sunter Jaya, said city police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang.

The injured man was identified as Hirsam, 30, also a local resident. He was admitted to Medika Griya Hospital in Sunter for severe head, hand and leg injuries, Aritonang said.

The three victims were standing on the roadside when the speeding bus plying the Senen-Tanjung Priok route crashed into them at about 5:30 a.m., eyewitnesses said.

"Some people who saw the accident got mad and immediately smashed the bus window and burned it after they saw the driver run away," he said.

About 10 passengers managed to get out of the bus safely before the crowd torched it, he said.

The crowd then stopped another bus from the same company which was plying the same route and burned it. The driver also ran away in fear.

Aritonang, who said he regretted the burning of the buses, said the whereabouts of both drivers was still being checked. (cst)