Police officer dies in traffic accident

JAKARTA (JP): A police sergeant from the elite Mobile Brigade died early yesterday after his motorcycle collided with a cigarette stand when he tried to avoid a speeding public minivan on Jl. Raya Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta.

Second Sgt. Asep Saefudin, 22, received medical treatment at UKI Hospital in Cawang, East Jakarta, but later died from severe head injuries.

According to his colleagues, who flocked to the hospital, Asep, of Jl. Batu Merah II in Kalibata district, was in uniform and on his way to a routine morning assembly at Mobile Brigade Headquarters in Kelapa Dua when the accident happened.

"He had just overtaken the car in front of him when he saw the minivan speeding toward him from the opposite direction," a colleague, I. Gusti A.N., quoted eyewitnesses as saying.

He said Asep swerved to avoid the minivan but lost control of his motorcycle, riding up onto the sidewalk and colliding with the stall.

"Asep must have been very sleepy as the morning assembly requires us to be at headquarters before 6 a.m.," Gusti said.

The officer's body was taken to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta for a postmortem examination.

His father, Utay, a retired police officer, plans to bury his beloved son in their hometown of Ciamis, West Java, after a funeral ceremony to be held by Asep's unit today. (emf)