Indonesian train crash kills at least 36

JAKARTA, Indonesia

A train crash in central Indonesia on Saturday killed at least 36 people and injured dozens, several with severe burns and broken bones, officials and witnesses said. As most passengers slept on the train, which was sitting idle at the station in Petarukan, a northern coastal city in Central Java province, a train from the capital slammed into it around 3 a.m., according to Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan. He added that investigators were trying to determine if human error was to blame.

“It may also have been mechanical,” he said. “We’re checking to see if the signals of the parked train were working properly.”

The force of the crash knocked part of a train car off the track, and twisted debris from the train littered the area.

By early afternoon Saturday, only one body was still trapped inside the mangled wreckage, said Marsono, a rescuer at the scene. He, like many Indonesians, goes by only one name.

Thirty-five other bodies were brought to three nearby hospitals, said Tri Yuniasari, a spokeswoman from the Hasyim Ashari hospital, who was helping keep tallies.

Cendana Banandi, a government life insurance official, earlier put the death toll at 43 but later revised his figure to 36. Meanwhile, another passenger train crashed in the town of Solo at around 4 a.m., said Ervan, adding data was still being collected about casualties.

Officials at the nearby Kasih Ibu hospital said at least one person died in that crash. Indonesia - with a reputation for poor safety standards and maintenance - has been hit by a series of plane, train and ferry accidents in recent years that have left hundreds dead.

Railway traffic on the north lane of Central Java has been disrupted following a train crash that left more than 30 people killed on Saturday.

Head of Tegal railway station Achmad Zahid told Antara news agency only one of the double tracks was available for trains as ongoing evacuation of wreckage had caused the state railway company to close the other railway track.

Among the trains affected were Fajar Utama, Argo Muria, Kaligung Bisnis, Harina, Tawangjaya and Kaligung Ekonomi.

“We don’t know when the train schedules will return to normal, as repair works are still under way,” Achmad said.

An Argobromo Anggrek executive train smashed into a Senja Utama business train near Petarukan railway station in Pemalang early on Saturday, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens of other.

Police question 9 people over fatal train crash

Central Java police are questioning nine railway company officers in connection with the train crash. The provincial police chief, Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang, said the officers in question were machinists of Senja Utama train and Anggrek Argobromo train, head of the Petarukan railway station, a railway track operator and other on-duty officers.

“They are questioned related to the accident as witnesses,” Edward said after observing the accident site.

Police investigators and the National Commission on Transportation Safety have not concluded what caused the train crash, Edward added.

The police will also study tape recording of conversations between crew members of the trains and the railway station operators to confirm the cause of the accident.

- The Jakarta Post