Three hurt in tanker train collision

Three hurt in tanker train collision

INDONESIA: At least three people were injured when two tanker
trains, one of them laden with diesel fuel, collided at Tarik
station in Sidoarjo near Surabaya early on Saturday.

Six tanker cars caught fire following the crash, which
occurred at around 2:30 a.m. As a result, the southern Surabaya-
Yogyakarta rail line was paralyzed, with many trains having to be
rerouted.

The accident involved a tanker train carrying diesel fuel
traveling to Kediri, East Java, and another tanker train which
was empty, heading from Kertosono, East Java, to Beteng station.

A spokesman for state-owned railway company PT KAI's eastern
region, Sudarsono, said eight cars had been derailed, and six of
them had been destroyed by fire.

"A train driver and his two assistants had been slightly
injured in the accident," he said, adding the trains collided
head-on and an investigation was underway.

KAI workers were lifting the derailed carriages from the
vicinity of the track using a crane dispatched from Surakarta,
Central Java, he said. "The work will be completed by Saturday
evening."

He gave assurances that the crash would not result in the
cancellation of trains that normally use the southern line
between Surabaya and Yogyakarta as they would be rerouted to
other lines. -- JP