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)