Two trains have collided on Indonesia’s main island of Java, causing several carriages to buckle and overturn and killing at least three people
Trains collide on Indonesia’s main island of Java, killing at least 3 peopleBy ADI MARSIELAAssociated PressThe Associated PressBANDUNG, Indonesia
BANDUNG, Indonesia (AP) — Two trains collided on Indonesia’s main island of Java on Friday, causing several carriages to buckle and overturn and killing at least three people, officials said.
The accident happened about 500 meters (yards) from Cicalengka train station in West Java’s Bandung city, said Ayep Hanapi, a spokesperson for PT Kereta Api Indonesia, the national railways.
He said the Turangga express train carrying 287 passengers was traveling from Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, when it plowed into a Bandung Raya commuter train heading to Padalarang from Cicalengka station with 191 passengers at about 6:30 a.m.
“All passengers of the two crashed trains have been evacuated safely,” Hanapi said, adding that 28 people were being treated at a hospital for minor to serious injuries.
At least three people were killed, the driver and his assistant on the commuter train and a steward on the express train, West Java Police spokesperson Ibrahim Tompo said.
He said rescuers have recovered the body of the steward and are still trying to remove those of the driver and assistant, who were trapped in the train’s locomotive.
Television video showed several carriages overturned or badly mangled. One carriage plunged into a nearby rice field. People screamed as panicked passengers tried to get out of the train. Some walked through the fields carrying suitcases and other items as ambulances evacuated the injured.
Transportation ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati apologized for the accident and for the disruption of railway services in the West Java region.
She said the cause of the accident was being investigated and that rescuers had evacuated all passengers and were working to remove the trains to restore railway services.
Train accidents are common on Indonesia’s aging railroad network, especially at crossings.
The government has spent billions of dollars on improving infrastructure, including roads, railways, airports and power plants, in the world’s largest archipelago nation, home to more than 270 million people.
A $7.3 billion high-speed railway, Southeast Asia’s first, has been operating commercially since October. The 142-kilometer (88-mile) railway, a key project under China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, has drastically reduced travel time between Jakarta and Bandung from three hours to about 40 minutes.
