Thousands of Idul Fitri revellers stranded
Thousands of Idul Fitri revellers stranded
JAKARTA (JP): Eleven people have been killed in series of traffic accidents on Java's northern coast (Pantura) routes as motorists struggled to reach their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri.
The first accident took place in Batang, Central Java, on Friday morning when an Adi Mulya bus hit a truck, leaving nine people killed.
Two other people were killed in other accidents yesterday. Details of the incidents have yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people were stranded at city bus terminals as the buses scheduled to take them to their hometowns in West, Central and East Java failed to return to the capital on time.
The sea of frustrated families, including babies and elderly people, occurred at the bus terminals in Pulogadung, Rawamangun, and Kampung Rambutan in East Jakarta, the Lebak Bulus bus terminal in South Jakarta, and the Senen railway station in Central Jakarta and Kota station in West Jakarta.
Traffic congestion, especially along the Pantura roads, was blamed for the delays. It had been reported earlier that sporadic repairs along the roads would affect the traffic flows.
Floods in the district of Wangon, Central Java, and an accident in Indramayu contributed to the traffic chaos. The road from Pangandaran to Sidareja was also disrupted by floods.
Reports said that the Cilegon-Merak traffic was totally paralyzed as a two kilometer line of vehicles wanting to enter the Merak seaport worsened the congestion.
A large number of people fainted after walking for more than 13 kilometers to beat the traffic and reach the port in an effort to take the ship to Sumatra.
At Pulogadung bus terminal people had to wait for hours as there were no buses to take them home. Many of them had to spend the whole day at the bus terminal for nothing.
As an empty bus entered the compound people "fought" to get on. The strongest while the old and weak just sat helplessly, forced to wait for another bus.
"No way. I must go home to Tegal today," Pariyem replied to The Jakarta Post's question if she could postpone her trip.
She was among those who had spent the whole day at the terminal.
Chaos among travelers was used by pickpockets operating in the bus terminal. Halima, who runs a rice stall in Ragunan, South Jakarta, cried aloud at the terminal after she lost the Rp 450,000 she put in her purse, Antara reported.
Only 79 buses and 5,632 passengers departed from Pulogadung from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The number of buses provided was dramatically lower than the previous day's figure of around 200 buses in the same time.
A total of 45,344 bus passengers left the terminal on Wednesday, 49,855 on Thursday and 60,000 on Friday.
More than 150 buses belonging to the state-owned bus company PPD had not returned to Jakarta terminals as scheduled yesterday afternoon.
About 60 buses have been repaired in Madura, East Java. Dozens of others were reportedly caught in traffic jams.
The South Jakarta's Lebak Bulus bus terminal was just as busy with thousands of desperate people waiting for buses bound for Central and East Java.
"I have to cancel my trip. I've been here since 9:00 a.m to get tickets for my wife and I, but failed. Those with tickets in hands are also frustrated as the buses have not arrived yet," Toto, who wanted to go home to Mojokerto, East Java, with his wife, said. He decided to go to Gambir railway station to get the 11 o'clock train to Yogyakarta.
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said when visiting the Lebak Bulus bus terminal on Saturday that the number of travelers in the terminal was 40% more than last year.
Similar scenes were also witnessed at the Rawamangun and Kampung Rambutan bus terminals.
Head of the Rawamangun bus terminal, B.A Simatupang, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the number of buses scheduled to serve passengers at the station had been doubled for this year's Idul Fitri exodus.
Due to the lack of buses however, the terminal yesterday only dispatched around 1,500 passengers in the 50 available buses, compared to the previous day's total of 3,176 passengers in 109 buses, Simatupang said.
The shortage of buses prompted many travelers to flock to the railway stations.
A total of 170,000 people were at the city's railway stations yesterday afternoon. (team)