Police hampered in investigation

TANGERANG (JP): Police here have run into difficulties in investigating Sunday's bus accident on the Jakarta-Tangerang toll road.

The main obstacle they face is that the driver of the bus died in the accident.

According to the deputy chief of the Tangerang Traffic Police, First Insp. Wagiman, the police are pinning their hopes for completing their investigation on one of the accident survivors -- Suka, who is believed to have been the reserve driver for the bus plying the Cirebon-Merak ferry harbor route.

Wagiman said Suka remained in critical condition at Tangerang General Hospital following the accident on Sunday night, in which six people died, including driver Handoko, and 55 others were injured.

"We hope if he was the reserve driver for the bus, he will be able to tell us what really happened in the accident," Wagiman said.

But sources at Tangerang General Hospital said on Wednesday no one named Suka was on the list of patients from the accident being treated at the hospital.

The accident occurred near the Tangerang entrance gate to the toll road. Carrying over 60 passengers, the overloaded intercity bus tipped onto its side after one of its tires went flat, crashing into a shallow ditch on the left side of the road, according to survivors. (dja)