Police hampered in investigation

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)