Bus Careens Off Cliff After Brakes Fail in West Java, At Least 18 Dead

The Jakarta Globe, August 21, 2013.


Bogor. A speeding passenger bus lost control and careened off a 12-meter cliff, killing at least 18 passengers after its brakes failed in Cisarua, West Java, Wednesday morning.

The bus, operated by the tourism bus company Giri Indah, was reportedly speeding along Puncak Pass when the driver collided with a pickup truck near Tugu Utara Village, according to a witness. The bus rolled down the cliff side before landing upside down on top of the truck, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 30 others, police said.

Witness Sugianto, 57, was riding his motorbike behind the bus when it veered off the cliff.

“The road was winding but the bus was running at full speed,” he said. “The bus [then] lost control. It hit a pickup truck and pushed the vehicle off a 12-meter cliff. It flipped twice and hit the ground upside down. The pickup was crushed beneath it.”

According to police, the bus lost control when its brakes failed.

“The cause of the accident is still under investigation but we suspect it was because the brakes did not work based on the driver’s information,” West Java Police spokesman Sr. Cmr. Martinus Sitompul said.

The bus was taking members of the Bethel Church, in Kelapa Gading, Jakarta, back to their homes after a visit to Kota Bunga, a popular picnic destination known for its flowers.

The injured, including bus driver Muhammad Amin, were transported to the nearby Dr. M. Goenawan Partowidigdi Lung Hospital, in Cisarua, Bogor, for treatment.



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The Jakarta Globe, August 22, 2013.


The West Java Police charged the bus driver involved in yesterday’s deadly accident on the Puncak Pass, in Cisaura, Bogor, with negligence on Thursday after discovering the vehicle had not been inspected in eight years, police said.

Muhammad Amin, 49, faces a maximum of five years in jail for his alleged role in a tragic bus accident that left at least 19 dead on Wednesday, West Java Police spokesman Sr. Cmr. Martinus Sitompul said. The driver previously told police the bus’ brakes had failed when he collided with a parked pickup truck and sent both vehicles careening off a 12-meter-tall cliff.

On further inspection, police found that the bus, operated by the private tourism company Giri Indah, had not been subjected to a road-worthiness inspection in eight years and was ten passengers over-capacity at the time of the accident. The vehicle’s tires were also thin, Martinus said.

“[The driver] has been named as a suspect due to his negligence,” he said.

The bus company will also be sanctioned for its alleged role in the wreck, West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Suhardi Alius said.

According to one witness, the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when it struck a parked pickup truck unloading canisters of fuel on a bend of the Puncak Pass. The two vehicles veered off the road and went over the side of a 12-meter-tall cliff. The bus tumbled as it fell, landing upside down on top of the crushed truck.

Nineteen people, most members of Jakarta’s Blessed Indonesian Emmanuel Bethel Church, were killed in the accident. Dozens of others were transported to nearby hospitals with a host of injuries.

The vehicle was returning to Bogor and Jakarta after transporting the church members on a trip to Taman Bunga, a popular park known for its flowers, on Sunday.

The driver of the pickup truck and a local resident were also killed.

The bus was carrying 60 passengers at the time of the accident, 10 more than its recommended limit, police said.



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