More witnesses give their accounts of bus tragedy

More witnesses give their accounts of bus tragedy

JAKARTA (JP): Three more witnesses came forward yesterday and gave their testimonies at the North Jakarta District Court in the trial of Ramses Silitonga.

The Metro Mini driver was at the wheel when his bus plunged into the Sunter river last March, killing 33 passengers.

The first witness, 28-year-old Elin Sari Handayani, was one of the 13 survivors.

Elin told judge Soemaryono that at 10:00 a.m. on March 6, 1994, she and her 29-year-old husband, Minandar, boarded the bus, which plies the Semper-Senen route via Jl. Yos Sudarso, North Jakarta.

She said that there were no empty seats when she and her husband got on the bus and that they had to stand near the front door during the journey.

"When the bus reached Jl. Yos Sudarso, the driver started driving at around 100 kilometers per hour. I heard some women screaming to the driver, but he simply ignored them. My husband then grabbed me to prevent me from falling," Elin said.

She then told the judge that the driver kept on speeding, despite the fact that the road was riddled with potholes.

"The potholes were forcing the bus to bounce so hard. The next thing I knew, the bus was scraping along the concrete sidewalk wall and then plunged into the river," she said.

When the bus plunged into the water, Elin said she managed to escape through the front door. The black water, however, prevented her from reaching, or even seeing, her husband.

"The water was heavily polluted. I could hardly open my eyes to see where my husband was. When somebody standing on top of the bus saved me I panicked because my husband was not there," she said.

Later, while still in the Islamic Hospital in East Jakarta, Elin learned that her husband had been killed in the crash.

"I spent seven days at the hospital and my husband was buried without my presence," she told The Jakarta Post.

She said her husband, a law school graduate from Pancasila University, was preparing for his graduation day.

The second witness, Rozi Targo, lives near where the accident took place.

He told the judge that on March 6, while sitting on his front porch, he suddenly saw a bus plunge into the river that is located across from his house.

Raft

"When I arrived at the location I dove into the river and then ordered my friends to help me by bringing me a wooden raft. I succeeded in saving around nine people with the raft," he said.

Rozi was then asked to look at Ramses's face and when asked if he remembered seeing Ramses at the scene of the disaster, Rozi said: "I did not see him at the accident scene."

The third witness was a cigarette kiosk owner named Ita Rashim, whose kiosk is located 100 meters from the accident site.

He could not give the judge any important information as he had been too far from the site to see how it really happened.

"I could only see the roof of the bus sinking into the water," Ita said.

It is alleged that on March 6, 1993, Ramses was driving Metro Mini (smaller-sized) bus P07 along Jl. Yos Sudarso in North Jakarta at a speed of between 70 and 90 kilometers per hour.

According to the prosecution, he continued speeding despite the screaming from a number of passengers that there were children aboard.

The prosecution claims that Ramses then lost control of the bus which, shortly afterwards, plunged into the Sunter River.

Twenty people died at the scene of the accident, 13 died later in hospital and another 13 were injured.

Ramses, 33, evaded the police and went into hiding in North Sumatra, his home province. Police arrested him six months later despite an attempt made by Ramses to change his identity.

Police said Ramses had been living in Tanjung Mulia village in the Kampung Rakyat district, Labuhan Batu regency. He had been working for PT Pemudjur, a timber mill, under the name of Ucok Sitompul. (mas)