Three killed when train crashes into truck

Three people were killed and six others heavily injured on Friday afternoon after an executive train traveling between Yogyakarta and Jakarta collided with a truck in Landung subdistrict in Central Java.

Two of the three killed were truck passengers, while another victim was a nearby bicycle rider. The six who were injured were construction workers aboard the truck.

As of Friday evening, the police were still trying speak with witnesses about the exact causes of the accident.

One witness, Kosin, 30, said that the accident occurred when the speeding truck driven by a man identified as Kasijo, drove onto the train tracks where it crossed the road in Landung subdistrict, apparently trying to get across before the train but he apparently misjudged the speed of the train.

Kosin said that the accident looked inevitable as the truck driver never really had a chance to beat the train.

The three dead were identified as Slamet, Wahono and Edi, all were residents of Kewarasan district in Kebumen regency. The identity of the five injured was not known.

The railway traffic returned to normal two hours after the incident occurred at 4 p.m.

The accident occurred just a day after a train-minivan collision in the East Java regency of Kediri, that took three lives. -- JP