Train crash still being probed

JAKARTA (JP): Officials are still investigating the cause of a train accident that took place Saturday near the small Sadang railway station in Purwakarta, West Java, and which disrupted traffic up to yesterday.

"It is still too early to speculate on the cause of the accident and we should wait for the result of the investigation by the technical team," said Roni Wahyudi, local official of state railway company, Antara reported yesterday.

Based on a preliminary investigation, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said Saturday the Bandung- bound Parahyangan train was moving at 20 km/h when it hit the other Parahyangan train, which was waiting on a section of double track for the first train to pass.

Both locomotives, and three cars from the moving train, were badly damaged in the crash.

Rail traffic between Jakarta and Bandung was halted for about six hours on Saturday, and despite reports to the contrary, traffic had not returned to normal yesterday.

Sixteen trains usually travel in each direction daily.

Roni said that both of the locomotives' drivers, who were unharmed because they were able to jump out before the cash, were still being questioned by Purwakarta police.

As reported earlier, the collision left seven people seriously injured and 46 others suffered minor injuries.

Up to yesterday afternoon, dozens of railway employees were still hard at work trying to clear the two locomotives from the rail tracks. (byg)