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)