Road mishaps kill 80 in two weeks

Road mishaps kill 80 in two weeks

JAKARTA: At least 80 people were killed and more than 100 others injured, many critically, in road accidents in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi over the past two weeks, press reports said yesterday.

On Sunday alone 20 people were killed in a collision between a bus and a truck in Meulaboh, southern Aceh. Several others were seriously injured.

The accident occurred when one of the bus's tires blew up, causing the bus to careen to the other side of the road and into an oncoming truck.

The Medan-based Waspada daily quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the bus was traveling so fast that its driver could not keep control after the blow-out.

All the victims were bus passengers. They were on their way to a recreational center in the regency to celebrate the Idul Fitri holiday.

Also on Sunday, a crowded bus slipped into a ravine in the jungle of Sembahe, North Sumatra, critically injuring 20 passengers, Antara reported yesterday.

The accident happened after the driver lost control of his speeding Sinabung Jaya bus, the police said.

Near the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu, another calamity occurred when flatbed of a speeding pick-up truck, jammed with 21 people in the back, fell apart, killing one and seriously injuring the rest.

The truck, on its way from Donggala to Palu carrying Idul Fitri holidaymakers, suddenly lost its back railings going around a bend, police said.

In the West Java city of Bandung, the police have recorded 56 deaths and 60 injuries -- 24 of which were serious -- over the past fortnight in various places throughout the province.

West Java police chief Maj. Gen. Soebandy said the majority of the fatal road accidents could be attributed to the lack of motorist discipline.

Last night, Antara reported that four people and dozens others were injured in separate road accidents on busy northern Java highways as tens of thousands of people streamed back to Jakarta after spending their holidays in Central and East Java. (rms/pan)