Road accidents mar Idul Fitri celebrations
Road accidents mar Idul Fitri celebrations
JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of people were killed and many others
seriously injured in road accidents around Indonesia during the
two-day Idul Fitri Moslem holiday.
In West Java, nine people died amidst the festivities on the
second day of Idul Fitri last Wednesday. They were victims of two
separate road accidents near Kampung Bojong Cigembar, Sukabumi,
and Kampung Krani, Subang, Antara reported yesterday.
Two of the nine victims died in the first accident when a
speeding truck carrying 32 passengers from Sukabumi to Pelabuhan
Ratu overturned. The second accident, which killed the other
seven, was a collision between a passenger bus and a station
wagon.
On Tuesday, the first day of Idul Fitri, a sedan backing out
of the parking lot of a restaurant in Sukasari village,
Pamanukan, was hit by a passenger bus. Four were injured in the
accident.
The Jagorawi toll road in Bogor, West Java, was the site of
several accidents on Tuesday and Wednesday which killed two
people and injured five others.
Twenty-six people are being treated at the Red Cross Hospital
in Bogor for the injuries they sustained in a number of other
accidents in the city of Bogor.
In Indramayu, a barge carrying 25 people down the Cimanuk
River sank on Tuesday, killing one while another went missing.
The passengers were Moslems on their way to say the Idul Fitri
prayer.
The news agency reported that the barge was already old and
leaking, but the operator insisted on using it.
In Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, one died when a sedan and
a minibus collided on Jl. Teuku Umar on Tuesday.
In Yogyakarta, 17 accidents occurred during the Takbiran (Idul
Fitri eve) festivities, killing four people and injuring scores
of others. A teenager, Rangsang Utami Putera, went missing after
he was dragged under by the waves at Parangtritis Beach on
Wednesday.
In various parts of Central Java, ten people died while 26
others were injured in either traffic accidents or other
incidents, including an explosion of firecrackers.
The agencies in charge of land transportation have yet to
announce the total number of accidents and fatalities.
Meanwhile, the wave of travelers returning from the holidays
to the cities has started to create the heavy road congestion
previously seen during the Idul Fitri exodus just last week.
Abdul Shomad of the Jakarta office of the Land Transportation
Control Agency said the flow of traffic will probably peak
tomorrow and Sunday.
The number of buses returning from out of town to the Pulo
Gadung intercity-bus terminal on Wednesday reached 791, carrying
a total of 42,493 passengers. As of yesterday afternoon, 189 more
buses arrived.
A total of 752 buses carrying 28,369 returning passengers
reached the Kampung Rambutan terminal on Wednesday; as of
yesterday afternoon, the number had reached 381 buses with 9,906
passengers.
The Kali Deres terminal received the return of 140 buses
carrying 4,442 passengers; yesterday, 310 buses arrived carrying
9,094 passengers.
At the Lebak Bulus terminal, a total of 136 buses arrived on
Wednesday, carrying 2,475 passengers. It received 60 buses
carrying 1,358 passengers yesterday afternoon.
At the Rawamangun bus terminal, a total of 145 buses returned
carrying 1,012 passengers on Wednesday. Yesterday afternoon, four
buses returned carrying 80 passengers.
In the Tanjung Priok terminal, 167 buses returned on
Wednesday, bringing with them 6,420 passengers. As of yesterday
afternoon, 89 buses had arrived with 3,640 passengers.
(01/wah/04/17)