Indonesia | Commuter train hits passenger bus; 18 dead

Rescuers remove the wreckage of a passenger minibus after it was hit by a commuter train in Jakarta

A commuter train slammed into a passenger minibus yesterday at a railroad crossing in Indonesia’s capital, killing at least 18 people and seriously injuring six others.
The bus driver allegedly ignored the warning signals when he crossed the rail tracks and was rammed by the train in western Jakarta, said Wirdhanto, the police chief in the neighborhood of Tambora. Like many Indonesians, Wirdhanto uses only one name.
All of those who were killed were traveling in the minibus. No one aboard the train was injured.
The shattered bus was seen lying on the tracks after it was dragged by the train up to a nearby platform, about 300 meters from the collision site.
Thirteen minibus passengers died instantly, while another died on the way to a hospital, Wirdhanto said.
The minibus driver and his assistant were among four people who died at three Jakarta hospitals, while six others were hospitalized with serious injuries, said Musyafak, who heads Jakarta police’s medical and health division.
He said that no one traveling in the train’s eight cars was hurt, and that all rail signals were working at the time of the crash. The train was headed to Jakarta’s neighboring town of Bogor with about 400 passengers.
Road, train, boat and air accidents are common in Indonesia, due largely to poor safety standards. AP