Speeding cars kills 3 pedestrians

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A mechanic ran over three people who were waiting for a bus on the sidewalk on Jl. Kartini in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, on Tuesday. Two of them died instantly, while the other one died later in hospital.

Rois Syahroni, 24, who is currently being detained at the Cilandak Police Station, admitted that the Volvo sedan he was driving belonged to a customer of the car workshop in Pamulang, Tangerang where he worked.

The sedan was still under repair.

Rois took fellow mechanics Wahid and Ugan and Ugan's two-year- old son for a picnic at Ragunan Zoo, several kilometers from where the fatal accident took place.

"I turned the wheel sharply to the left when the car was hit by a passing bicycle. I tried to stop the car but the brakes were not working ... I could not control the car," Rois told reporters.

The speeding sedan crashed into a tree and went up onto the sidewalk where the three people were standing. Still unable to stop, the car crashed into a large pot, a kiosk and finally stopped in the gutter.

The cyclist and the kiosk owner were reportedly unharmed as well as all three passengers in the sedan.

Parwanti, 31, an employee of an apparel store in Taman Anggrek shopping mall, West Jakarta, and Halomoan Sidabutar, 34, a civil servant at the Ministry of Defense, died instantly.

Meanwhile, Sutarmin, 35, Sidabutar's colleague at the ministry, died in Fatmawati Hospital, South Jakarta, five hours after the crash.

Sutarmin and Sidabutar had just left their office in Pondok Labu after attending the Independence Day ceremony, when the blue Volvo 240 with license plate number B 2623 HT crashed into them.

Head of Cilandak Traffic Police, First Insp. Yasir, said the case had been transferred to the South Jakarta Police for further investigation.

He added that the suspect would also be moved to the South Jakarta detention center.

The Volvo is now being kept at the South Jakarta Police Station as evidence in the case.