Traffic toll begins Idul Fitri countdown

Traffic toll begins Idul Fitri countdown

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With Idul Fitri beginning on Nov. 14, the roads are crowded with
holiday travelers on what should be a joyous trip, but which
unfortunately sometimes ends in tragedy.

Three people died and 13 others were injured when a truck
loaded with mangoes collided with a passenger bus traveling from
Medan, North Sumatra, to Bandung on the Merak-Jakarta toll road
at about 1 a.m. on Tuesday.

Surviving bus passengers said the truck, which was traveling
in the opposite direction, hit the lane separator before crashing
into the bus. The bus rolled over at least three times before
coming to a halt upside down on the side of the toll road.

The fatalities were identified as Deden and Muhaimin,
passengers on the bus, and Demin, one of the drivers of the
truck.

The injured passengers were transported to Serang General
Hospital. Most of the injured were bus passengers returning home
from Medan to cities in West Java.

Although the roads are already full with holiday travelers,
officials at the Senen railway station in Central Jakarta and the
Pulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta estimate that the exodus
will reach its peak this Thursday and Friday.

There was little evidence at the Pulogadung bus terminal on
Tuesday of the approaching holiday.

"We are providing at least 400 buses starting today.
Regularly, we provide about 350 buses a day," the chairman of
Pulogadung's Intercity Bus Association, Pardjiman, was quoted as
saying by Detik.com.

At Gambir, the city's largest railway station, the number of
passengers increased by 3 percent on Tuesday from the previous
day.

"Looking at the data from last year, the number of passengers
five days before the start of the holiday increased by 6
percent," said Akhmad Sujadi, head of the Jakarta operational
zone for state railway operator PT KAI.

He said passenger numbers had not yet reached their peak,
adding that Gambir station was beefing up its security for the
holiday rush.

"Thirty police officers are deployed here," he said.