Ten killed, 34 wounded in Cianjur bus accident

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Cianjur

At least 10 people were killed and 34 others were wounded on Sunday morning when a bus plunged into a 50-meter-deep ravine in Pacet, Cianjur, West Java.

Police said the bus, believed to be quite old and not roadworthy, was totally destroyed, with parts of it found scattered around the site.

Dozens of police officers, assisted by local residents, found it difficult to evacuate the victims due to the depth of the ravine. "It took more than five hours for us to evacuate the victims," Pacet Police subprecinct chief First Insp. Bambang Sugito said.

Seventeen of the 34 wounded passengers are being treated at the Cianjur General Hospital and the Cimacan hospital.

Police also found it difficult to identify the victims because their ID cards had either been destroyed or washed away by the river. "The bus landed in a river after plunging into the deep ravine," Bambang said.

Police have so far only identified 21-year-old Andriana as one of the 10 dead and four wounded passengers as Erni, 18, Epi and Sutartoli from Bogor and Pahmi, 18, from Palembang, South Sumatra. The bus driver was among the dead.

"The four survivors suffered broken arms and legs and are being treated at the Cianjur general hospital," Dadang Setiandi, a paramedic said.

Based on preliminary site investigations, Bambang assumed that the bus driver might have lost control of his vehicle on the winding and steep road. "The bus rammed the bridge parapet at high speed before plunging into the river," said Bambang.