PT KAI suspects dead radio the cause of Saturday's crash
PT KAI suspects dead radio the cause of Saturday's crash
BANDUNG, West Java (JP): An official of state railway company
PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) said here on Monday that the poor
state of radio communication equipment had most likely caused the
train collision in the Pinangsia-Ancol area of Jakarta on
Saturday.
"The radio on the electric passenger train was dead," KAI
spokesman Gatot Wibowo told reporters.
"When the train suddenly lost its power and stopped at an area
between Kampung Bandan and Angke railway stations, the driver of
the electric passenger train could not contact the nearest
railway station to inform officials of the incident. No
communication led to misunderstandings, and hence the crash."
The collision between an electric train and a diesel train,
which occurred at 1:10 p.m., killed three people, all identified
as KAI staff members, and injured at least 12 others, mostly
passengers of the electric train.
Spokesman of KAI's Greater Jakarta office Zainal Abidin said
that Kampung Bandan officials had called Angke Station to ask
whether the electric passenger train from Tangerang had arrived.
Angke Station officials assumed that the electric train must
have been in a secure position and that the next train, which was
the diesel freight train, could leave Kampung Bandan Station.
"So Kampung Bandan Station released the diesel train, which
eventually rear-ended the electric train at 40 kilometers per
hour," said Zainal.
Gatot said that since June, KAI had revised the staggered
departure of one train from another, from eight minutes to 12
minutes, on the Greater Jakarta railway lines, for security
reasons.
"So, when one train is released, the next train will be
released after 12 minutes, instead of eight. And yet, this
accident happened," Gatot said.
"The drivers of both the diesel and the electric trains will
be severely punished."
The track between the Angke and the Kampung Banda stations was
curvilinear, making it difficult for the driver of the diesel
train to see ahead clearly.
"We're still investigating the monitoring panels at the two
stations, which were supposed to help the officials locate the
electric train," said Zainal, adding that there was no radio
communication between the two trains on the track.
Meanwhile, Pademangan and North Jakarta Police officers were
investigating the cause of the electricity failure on the
passenger train.
"We're also going to ask Sumarno, the driver of the passenger
train, about the case," said Zainal, adding that the driver of
diesel train, Jumiran, was still hospitalized at Atmajaya
Hospital in Pluit, North Jakarta.
"All of the victims' medical expenditures, both the passengers
and our employees, will be covered by medical insurance provided
by PT KAI," said Zainal.
The collision on Saturday was the fifth such incident in the
greater Jakarta area in the past seven months. (25/ylt)