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