Probe into Cikunir bus crash continues
JAKARTA (JP): The police investigation into Sunday's Cakung- Cikunir toll road crash, which claimed the lives of 35 people, is continuing and no suspects have been named.
City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang told The Jakarta Post yesterday that detectives and forensic officers were still in the process of collecting evidence and information to clarify the events leading up to the accident.
"We also still need more data and information from forensic experts at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital and the surviving victims as well," he said.
Police will question traffic experts from the toll road management company, PT Jasamarga, or the Public Work Office for details on the road conditions and the collision, he said.
"The information is vital if we are to prove whether or not the ill-fated Jaya Bakti Super bus driver was the one responsible for the collision and the death of the passengers."
The ongoing investigation of the collision -- between a bus, dump truck and gas truck in East Jakarta -- was almost 60 percent completed, he said.
Blood test
The bus driver, Riyadi Mulyono, reportedly exceeded the maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour before the crash, which killed 35 people and hospitalized at least 15 others.
Aritonang said the police received a report on Wednesday from Cipto's forensic experts about the blood test conducted on Riyadi's remains.
"It stated that every cubic centimeter of Riyadi's blood contained 80 milligrams of alcohol," he said, a level which would have impaired Riyadi's driving.
Preliminary inquiries have so far named Riyadi as the main suspect in the case, Aritonang said.
Riyadi allegedly overtook the gas truck without even considering the possibility that another vehicle may have been coming from the opposite direction, he said.
"When all the evidence proves his negligent actions were the main cause of the accident, the investigation on Riyadi will be closed because he is already dead and cannot be punished for what he has done."
"However, this cannot be used as an excuse for police to stop their investigation now," he said. "We will continue until everything is clear," he said.
The city's Land Transportation Control Agency has agreed to reduce the maximum speed for motorists on the Cakung-Cikunir toll road from 100 kilometers per hour to 80 km/h.
"The reduction will only apply to the Cakung-Cikunir toll road because it is still a two lane road with no barriers in between," Aritonang said. (cst)