26 fatalities in two bus accidents in West Java

Two traffic accidents in which two buses plunged into ravines killing a total of at least 26 people in Sumedang and Bogor districts, West Java, happened within less than two weeks this month.

On Wednesday night (Feb.1), twelve passengers were killed and 22 others injured after a bus plunged into a ravine in Wado, Sumedang.

The Maju Jaya bus hit a truck ahead of it before losing its balance and falling into a ravine.

The victims including the bus driver, Asep Iwan,37, were treated in Sumedang general hospital.

This was the worst road accidents that happened in the past several years in the region and also at the beginning of 2012.

The police have questioned a number of survivors including the driver, and also named the bus driver a suspect.

Meanwhile, Sumedang district police chief, Arman Achdiat, once visited the driver when he was undergoing treatment in the hospital.

The driver, whose wife died seven months ago, suffered injuries on his head, legs and he also complained of pain in his chest.

Sumedang police chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Arman Achdiat said, "The cause of the incident is still being investigated but focus will be put on the brake system. For the time being it is believed the incident happened because the brake system failed to function as no marks of braking efforts were found."

In addition, on Friday evening (Feb.10), fourteen people died after the Karunia Bhakti passenger bus plunged into a ravine in Cisarua, Bogor, West Java.

Ten people were described as being in critical condition and 38 others sustained injuries.

Bogor police arrested the Karunia Bhakti bus driver who fled after his bus plunged into a ravine in Cisarua, Bogor, on Friday evening.

The driver, L, escaped to Garut district, West Java, soon after the accident in which 14 people died, Bogor police public relations
officer Adjunct Police Commissioner Ita Puspitalena said here on Saturday.

Bogor police pursued the driver following the accident and brought him back to Bogor police precinct after he was apprehended.

Ita said, "The police team successfully nabbed the driver who escaped to Garut," adding that the driver had allegedly known the bus was not operating properly, so he fled after the accident.

An eye witness, Asep, said the accident took place at around sunset.

In the meantime, the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) is investigating a traffic accident involving Karunia Bhakti bus and a number of other cars on the Bogor Highway, Cisarua, Puncak, Bogor Sub-district, Wast Java, to find the cause of the traffic mishap.

KNKT Chief Tatang Kurniadi said here Saturday, "We have begun an investigation. Some laboratory tests will be needed to find the cause of the accident."

The KNKT team immediately began an investigation at the scene of the accident on instruction from the Transportation Ministry.

Besides conducting its investigating, the team also conveyed the minister`s condolences and regrets to the victims.

During its investigating, the team would collect evidence at the scene of the accident determine its causes, Tatang said.

"We will investigate today. We will take some evidence such as brakes and some engine parts from the vehicles to examine their condition," Tatang said, adding that the cause of the accident was presumably the human factor.

The collision happened on a downhill road where vehicles usually move fast, he said.

"If the driver had been riding a vehicle that was in good condition, the accident would not have occurred. Therefore, there must be something wrong with the vehicles and the drivers," Tatang said.

Furthermore, the KNKT team would carry out a laboratory test on the brakes of the vehicles that might take three months.

The accident involved around 12 cars and ten of the victims were critically injured.

The dead victims and some of the injured were taken to the Pulmonary Hospital in Cisarua and the other injured to the Ciawi Hospital and PMI Hospital in Bogor.

On the other hand, PT Jasa Raharja, the traffic incidence insurance company confirmed that it would hand over compensation to the victims.

"God willing, we will hand over compensation to all victims of the ill-fated Kurnia Bhakti on Monday (Feb.13).

The dead victims deserve to receive the compensation amounting 25 million rupiah each, twenty million for the permanent disability victims each and ten million rupiah for each of the injured victims.

"We will directly deliver the compensation through families of the victims, PT Jasa Rahardja`s spokesman, Budi Rahardjo noted.

In the accident, the Kurnia Bhakti bus also struck several vehicles and food stalls in the location

Source: ANTARA