More witnesses testify against bus driver
More witnesses testify against bus driver
JAKARTA (JP): Judge Soemarjono of North Jakarta District yesterday questioned two more witnesses in the trial of Ramses Silitonga, the bus driver of a Metro Mini bus which plunged into a river in North Jakarta last March, killing 33 passengers.
The witnesses were Novi Bahria Laila and Siti Salinah, two of 13 surviving passengers of the bus plying the Semper-Senen route.
In the first session, Novi said that on Sunday, March 6, 1994, she and her elder sister boarded the bus in Plumpang area and took a seat near the front door.
She said before the accident occurred, the driver had been reprimanded by some of the passengers who asked him to slow down, but Ramses ignored them and continued speeding.
"The accident happened so fast. All I can remember is that the bus passed a pedestrian crossing then hit the sidewalk before plunging into the river," Novi said.
Novi told the judge that she was able to escape from the bus just before it careened into the highly polluted and muddy river. She later found her sister Norma Firdausi dead at a nearby hospital.
Novi looked pale and calm as the judge asked her to identify the photograph of her sister's dead body.
Siti Salinah, the second witness, said there were no empty seats when she and her three friends boarded the bus and so they had to stand during the journey.
"Your Honor the bus was speeding but since all Metro Mini drivers drive that way I didn't think anything of it at the time. But when we reached Jl. Yos Sudarso the bus was bouncing around uncontrollably and I nearly fell to the floor of the bus," Siti said.
She said she and some other female passengers had told the driver to stop speeding. "But he simply ignored our pleas."
Siti said she nearly fainted when the bus plunged into the water. "I felt somebody's hand pushing me from behind towards the window, then somebody on the bus roof grabbed my hand and pulled me out," Siti said.
She said she panicked when she did not find all her friends on the bus roof.
"I kept screaming when I couldn't find my friends there," she said, adding that two of her friends bodies were found on the same day while the other body was found on Monday, a day later.
She nearly wept when the judge asked her to identify the photographs of her friends' dead bodies.
She told the judge she did not remember whether or not the driver was still in his seat just before the bus plunged into the river.
In yesterday's session, the trial was attended by Ramses' friends, who tried to harass the witnesses by blocking their exit after the trial ended. They also tried to verbally intimidate Siti and Novi.
It is alleged that on March 6 last year, Ramses drove a Metro Mini (smaller-sized) bus along Jl. Yos Sudarso in North Jakarta at a speed of between 70 and 90 kilometers per hour.
Twenty people died at the scene of the accident, another 13 died later in hospital and a further 13 were injured.
Ramses, 33, who reportedly fled the scene of the accident, went into hiding in North Sumatra, his home province. Police finally managed to arrest him in August.
Police said Ramses had been living in the village of Tanjung Mulia in the Kampung Rakyat district, Labuhan Batu regency. He had been working for PT Pemudjur, a timber mill, under the name of Ucok Sitompul.
Judge Soemarjono adjourned the trial until Feb. 2.(mas)