Train passenger loses an eye

BANDUNG: Parlindungan Tampubolon, a 33-year-old train passenger, lost his left eye when a piece of broken glass from a train window struck him in the face on Saturday.

The spokesman for railway company PT KAI's Bandung office, Akhmad Sujadi, confirmed the incident on Tuesday, saying that Tampubolon was sitting in the dining car of the Parahyangan train on the way to Bandung from Jakarta when the accident occurred. "A stone hit the train car as the train was passing through Purwakarta at noon."

The train was stopped at Ciganea and Tampubolon escorted off of the train. "He was sent to Purwakarta Hospital for treatment, but the hospital sent him to the Bandung's Cicendo Eye Hospital. The team of doctors at Cicendo decided that his left eye had to be removed," Sijadi said.

Tampubolon, who has appeared on the TV drama Cinta Selembut Awan, is in the hospital waiting for a possible eye donor.

Sujadi said that at least 300 train windows were broken by vandals every month, "and this has caused accidents to passengers".

Tampubolon is the fifth person injured this year, Sujadi said. (25/sur)