Two killed as bus slams into school

Suherdjoko, Batang, Central Java

A bus slammed into an elementary school building in Batang regency, Central Java, on Monday morning, killing at least two people and injuring 37 others including 16 students.

Police said the crash took place as the driver of the inter- city Setya Bhakti bus, carrying around 50 passengers, apparently lost control after a brake failure.

The bus hit the wall of the Assasiyatul Huda Islamic elementary school in Kutosari village, Gringsing subdistrict, when first and second grade students were taking part in a mid- semester examination.

The two dead were passengers of the bus, which was on the Jakarta-Purwodadi route, Tarsono bin Wahid, 73, from Pemalang regency in Central Java, and another person who had not been identified.

The injured included at least 21 passengers and 16 students, with some sustaining serious wounds.

Yon Ferdinan, 34, a passenger from Surabaya who survived the accident, said the bus was moving at a high speed before the crash.

The bus driver, identified only as Surip, had tried to overtake a truck in front of him, he said. "But he (the driver) was unable to control the bus and it careened out of control hit the school," Yon added.

Irfan, the Assasiyatul Huda school principal, said the accident panicked the students and the school sent them home.

Local police were investigating the crash.

Recklessness on the part of drivers and poor safety and maintenance systems on most vehicles are often blamed for deadly road and rail accidents across the country.

Last year, 50 students, mostly girls, from a Yogyakarta senior high school were burned to death after being trapped in their chartered bus that slammed into a trailer truck in Situbondo regency, East Java.