Ten students rounded up

JAKARTA (JP): Police rounded up 10 senior high school students who were involved in a brawl at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta yesterday, an official said.

"They were some of some 200 high school students from STM PGRI XII in West Jakarta and SMA Nusantara in Central Jakarta who clashed near the roundabout at about 1 p.m.," city police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang told reporters.

The 10 students were taken to the Jakarta Police Headquarters for questioning, he said.

"We will question them and summon their parents," he said.

Yesterday's brawl, which occurred on the first day of the new school year, caused heavy traffic congestion for about 2.5 hours on nearby thoroughfares, including Jl. Jend. Sudirman, Jl. Thamrin, Jl. Diponegoro and Jl. Kebon Kacang.

When police officers tried to disperse the crowd, most students escaped and hid in nearby buildings or climbed aboard passing public transportation vehicles.

"Luckily the officers could control the situation," Aritonang said, adding that police seized a machete from a state-owned PPD city bus plying the Blok M-Senen route from which the students started the brawl after taunting each other.

"There were no injuries reported. Let's hope this kind of incident will not happen again... it will only make the current situation worse," Aritonang added. (edt)