Six killed in bus crash

JAKARTA (JP): Six people were killed, 26 seriously injured, and 20 slightly injured, in a crash between two intercity buses on the Cikampek-Jakarta toll road on Sunday.

The fatalities included five passengers and the driver of the Sinar Jaya bus, which was heading from Purwokerto, Central Java, for Pulogadung, Jakarta.

Bekasi Police Chief Lt. Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said that the Sinar Jaya bus was hit in the back by a Jawa Baru bus plying the Bima (West Nusa Tenggara)-Surabaya-Jakarta.

The six bodies were taken to Bekasi General Hospital soon after the accident, while the 46 injured were taken to UKI hospital in Cawang, East Jakarta.

Sri Subandini, the nurse on duty in UKI's emergency unit, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that 15 of the injured had already left the hospital.

Eyewitnesses said the accident occurred because Ruslin, the driver of the speeding Jawa Baru bus, got drowsy. The bus hit the Sinar Jaya bus from behind, causing the Sinar Jaya bus to jump and overturn into a ditch.

Passengers on the Jawa Baru bus were quoted by the Berita Yudha daily as saying that the bus driver had been driving recklessly since the bus got on the Cikampek-Jakarta toll road. "The driver ignored the passengers' warning," one passenger said.

"I admit that I was wrong and I will take responsibility," said Rusli. He turned himself in to the police together with Asep, the bus conductor. (26)