11 Killed as Train Collides With Van

March 19, 2012


Eleven people were killed when the van they were traveling in was hit by a train in Tasikmalaya, West Java, on Sunday morning.

The driver of the Suzuki minibus apparently ignored the warning signals that a train was approaching. The crossing did not have boom gates.

The train, which was on its way from Bandung to Surabaya, was allowed to continue on its journey after three minutes despite the locomotive sustaining considerable damage.

“Zulkifli [the engineer] sounded the horn and switched on the floodlights, but the crash was inevitable,” West Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul explained.

Eleven passengers were killed and three others are in a critical condition. They were taken to Tasikmalaya General Hospital.

“Seven of the victims died at the scene while another four died in hospital,” Martinus said.

Five of the dead were children. Four of the dead have already been interred, while officials work to return the other bodies home.

Bambang Setya Prayitno, an official from state-owned railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia, said the crash was unavoidable because the car’s engine died.

“Based on information we have, the engine stalled and the car couldn’t back up off the tracks as another car was squeezed up right behind it,” he said.

Bambang said the crossing was supposed to have been monitored by the community.

“There are also many signs warning of the presence of the level crossing, as well as safety messages from [state traffic accident insurer] Jasa Raharja,” he said.

Bambang added that 81 of the 698 level crossings in the country are improvised, while the rest are officially recognized. Of the latter, he said, only 91 are monitored directly by KAI officers, while 31 are monitored by community groups and the remaining 495 are not monitored.

“KAI expresses its deepest condolences over the accident and calls on members of the public to take more precautions when at a level crossing,” he said.

KAI officials have previously stated that the public’s disregard for safety rules was to blame for such accidents.

Following two deaths in two days at railroad crossings in Jakarta last month, Mateta Rizalulhaq, the KAI spokesman for the Greater Jakarta area, said that such incidents are not uncommon.



(x the JG)