Public bus driver flees after accident

Public bus driver flees after accident

JAKARTA (JP): At least two passengers were seriously wounded
and some 30 others slightly injured when a Mayasari Bhakti bus
hit a tree and overturned on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan in East
Jakarta early Monday.

Driver Syahril fled the scene after the incident, while bus
conductor Hasan Basri was detained by traffic police, who arrived
shortly after the mishap which occurred at around 2 a.m.

The first wounded victim, a low-ranking member of the Armed
Forces (ABRI), was rushed to the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital in
Central Jakarta.

The second victim was a woman in her 40s. She was treated at
the Harapan Kita Hospital in West Jakarta.

Antara quoted some of the unharmed victims as saying the woman
suffered a serious head wound and the man had broken legs and
hands.

The identities of the two were not revealed.

The Mayasari bus number 905 plying the Pulogadung-Kota route
had about 50 passengers on board. The bus had previously hit a
sidewalk a few meters away from the Pulogadung terminal.

"The driver just woke up after sleeping on the passenger seats
when passengers got inside," recalled Ujang, an unharmed
passenger.

Instead of driving along the normal route of Pulogadung-Jl.
Pemuda-Jl. Pramuka-Senen-Kota, Syahril shortened the route by
speeding in the direction of Kota along Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan.

"We were even asked to pay Rp 1,000 per passenger (instead of
Rp 300)," said Ujang.

Driver Syahril lost control of the bus near Pulomas shopping
center. The vehicle jumped the median before hitting a big tree
on the roadside and overturning.

Most of the passengers suffered slight head wounds and bruises
to their faces.

On Sunday, two university students were killed when the
Transitas minibus they were traveling on, heading from Bekasi to
Depok, overturned on the Cawang-Cakung toll road at 5:45 p.m.
(bsr)