Six family members die when bus hits 'becak'

Six family members die when bus hits 'becak'

Apriadi Gunawan and Nana Rukmana, Medan/Cirebon

Two separate accidents occurred on Tuesday night in Labuhan Batu
regency, North Sumatra, and Cirebon in West Java. Nine people
were killed in total, six of whom were from one family.

Chief of the Rantau Prapat Police traffic division Adj. Comr.
Edi Sudarsono said on Wednesday that the six were killed and
another family member severely injured after their motorized
becak was hit by a bus. The accident took place on Jl.
Sisingamangaraja in Labuhan Batu, some 450 kilometers south of
Medan, the capital of North Sumatra.

Police are searching for the driver of the bus, Jalatin
Tarigan, who fled after the incident, according to Edi.

Witnesses said the accident happened at 8 p.m. Sudirman was
driving his becak toward Rantau Selatan district, when the Medan
Jaya bus tried to overtake him. It hit the back of the becak,
dragging it dozens of meters forward.

Novi, 20, Sudirman's sister, survived the accident.

According to Edi, Sudirman, his wife, Mami, and their four
children, Risti, 9, Akbar, 4, Wulan, 6 and Edo, 2, were killed.
Novi is being treated at Rantau Prapat Hospital. The six were
buried on Wednesday.

Four people were also killed in a similar accident in Deli
Serdang regency, also in North Sumatra, on Sunday, when their car
was hit by a speeding truck. Another family member was severely
injured in the accident on Jl. Jamin Ginting.

Separately in Cirebon, a trailer truck slammed into a
motorcycle on Jl. Bendungan on Tuesday night. The three teenagers
who were riding the motorcycle were killed.

They were Sutrisno, 20, Tommy, 17 and Wahyudin, 17, all
residents of Bendungan Blok Wage subdistrict.

Chief of the Cirebon Police traffic division First. Insp.
Kasiyana said on Wednesday, the accident happened as the
motorcycle sped along the middle of the road east from Cirebon
city to Losari district.

Suddenly, a car overtook the motorcycle, which apparently
surprised the motorcyclist causing him to stop.

The motorcyclist had not been aware that a trailer truck was
approaching him from behind. The truck hit the motorcycle,
killing the teenagers on impact.

The accident caused traffic jams on the road, which is located
on the busy northern coastal highway of Java island.