Technical problems led to most of the train accidents this year
Technical problems led to most of the train accidents this year
JAKARTA (JP): The country has witnessed 106 train accidents in
the first 10 months of this year, a senior official at the
Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications said on
Wednesday.
Kalalo Nugroho, head of the ministry's public relation and
overseas cooperation, said most of the accidents were due to
technical problems. The accidents included 11 collisions between
two speeding trains, 20 accidents with other vehicles and more
than 20 cases of derailment.
Four accidents were caused by natural disasters, such as flood
and landslide, while 19 others by "other factors", he was quoted
as saying by Antara.
Kalalo did not explain the causes of the remaining accidents.
According to him, 37 percent of the 106 accidents were caused
by technical problems, 27 by human error, 32 percent by "external
parties" and 4 percent by natural disasters.
Last year, train accidents across the country totaled 196, the
biggest record in a single year in the past few years. The number
reached 109 cases in 1998.
In an effort to reduce the number of accidents, Minister of
Transportation and Telecommunications Agum Gumelar has instructed
the firm's top management to pay serious attention to the welfare
of railway employees.
State PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) plans to introduce a
special "day of alert" among its staff and all train drivers will
undergo health checks prior to the start of their shifts.
In January this year, at least 12 people, mostly teenagers,
died instantly and at least 10 others were injured when the
diesel powered Bogor-Sukabumi train they were riding on top of
passed under a bridge in the Paledang subdistrict of Central
Bogor.
Witnesses said a group of teenagers were sitting on the train
roof unaware of the approaching bridge.
In early May, a speeding train on the Jakarta-Merak line
collided head-on with another train on a single-line track at the
Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) housing complex, killing four passengers
and injuring 37 others.
One of the fatalities, identified as becak (pedicab) driver
Sumarno, 35, was decapitated when he was caught between the
colliding trains. (bsr)